A Good Kind of Monster?
by Astrid Midnight
Summary: Jak is trapped in the Fortress, with the insane yet sly Lexi, subjected to the same experiments as everyone else locked up. Two years later, an opportunity arises for the two to join the Underground and take down the man who destroyed their lives, whilst also coming to terms with the new found monsters inside of them.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

Prologue:

The sun shone brightly over Sandover Village as Jak, Daxter, Keira and Samos the Sage attempted to work the Precursor Ring they discovered at the Silo after their confrontation with Gol and Maia. It had been a while since they moved the rocket-like device in front of the Ring, but it had taken them forever to figure out how to get it to work.

Jak was sitting on the inside of the device, grinning as he looked around the buttons. Daxter was napping on the outside early in the morning and Keira was looking at glowing Ring with determination in her eyes.

"Today's the big day, Jak.", said Samos. "I hope you are ready for whatever comes your way."

Keira looked around the machine. "I think I figured out most of this machine. It interacts somehow with that large Precursor Ring." She gestured towards the Ring. "Lets just hope we didn't damage it whilst moving it.", she said, taking a seat next to Jak.

"Easy for you to say!" Daxter popped up in between the two, receiving an annoyed from Jak. He reached out to press one of the buttons.

"Daxter!", Samos snapped. "Don't touch anything! Though the Precursors vanished long ago, the artifacts they left behind can still do great harm."

Both Jak and Daxter rolled their eyes at the Sage's lecture. "Or good, depending on how you use them.", Keira added.

Samos sat next to Jak. "I've had some experience with such things. I know you can make it work."

Jak eyed a red button that looked like some kind of gem. His hand lingered over it and pressed it, which activated some sort of spinning device.

"Looks like Jak's still got it!", said Daxter.

Keira was intrigued by the device. "Interesting. It appears to be reading out some preset coordinates."

Suddenly, the device closed shut followed by a rumbling noise. Two rods at the back of the ride began to spin and shoot two sparks of Eco at the Ring. This caused it to break free of the wooden contraption and float in the air, along with other parts of the ring.

"Whoa.", Daxter said, amazed by the sight.

"Finally! The las Gate has been opened!", an unknown voice declared. A bunch of mysterious creatures flew around the group, causing Daxter to duck down in fear.

"So _this_ is how it happened.", Samos whispered.

A monstrous creature suddenly appeared out of the dark ring, roaring at the group. "You cannot hide from me, Jak!"

"Do something, Jak!", Keira yelled.

Jak punched the red gem again, catapulting them towards the monster. Their vision was blinded for a moment, but soon found themselves zooming through some kind of purple portal, clinging onto the ride for dear life.

"What was that thing?!", yelled Keira.

"Everyone hold on!", said Samos.

The ride began to pick up speed. Daxter wailed and looked to Jak. "I want off this thing!"

A sudden spark of energy hit the ride, breaking it apart, separating the group. They all fell in different directions through the portal.

As Jak and Daxter fell through some sort of tunnel, he heard Keira scream and Samos shouting something at them. "Find yourself Jak!"

* * *

The two fell out of the sky and landed face first in the new area. Jak looked at the new surroundings of what appeared to be a metal city. Daxter looked at a metal bar in his hands and threw it to the ground, frustrated.

"That's it! That is the last time I touch a stupid Precursor artifact!"

"There he is.", a loud voice said. The two turned to see a man leading a group in red armour, gun in hand. "Move in."

They surround the duo. "Yaaah!", Daxter squirmed. He slipped between the leader's legs and fled the scene, on all fours, not looking back.

"Forget the rodent!", the leader snapped. "He wants _him_. " He gestured at Jak with his gun.

Jak looked at the soldiers in fear, knowing full well that he was outnumbered and surrounded.

"We've been waiting for you.", the leader said, slyly as one guard knocked Jak out with his gun.

He fell hard onto the ground, immediately beginning to drift unconscious. His vision was completely black and the voices around him were washed out. It wasn't long until darkness fully took over.

* * *

When Jak began to wake up, the first thing he felt was a throbbing headache from where the gun hit him. He then felt strong arms grip his and was being dragged across the floor. His eyes still felt heavy, but could look down and see that he was no longer wearing his regular garb and was now in prison clothing.

Looking around, he could see that they were no longer indoors and were in some kind of fortress. Jak was dragged towards a series of cells, but passed a chair in the middle of the room, that was above a high drop.

He looked forward and could see the leader of the group of the soldiers walking ahead of them. Taking out some kind of card, he swiped it against a pad and opened one of the cells.

"Today's your lucky day, Lexi.", said the guard. "You've got a new cell mate."

She looked about Jak's age and was wearing the same type of clothes he was wearing. She had a light skin complexion, long plum-coloured hair tied up in a pony tail and light brown eyes. The guard's voice made her sit up from the mattress she was lying on and looked at him with a scowl. Her gaze then went to Jak and her expression didn't change.

"So what, Erol?", she snapped. "I'm stuck babysitting the newbie again."

Erol didn't respond and just grabbed Jak by the arm and pushed him into the cell. He smirked at the two and shut the door.

Jak finally regained his bearings and looked at his cellmate, fearful of where he was. Many thoughts were racing through his mind: _What happened? Where am I? Where's Daxter? Who are these people? Why did they arrest me?_

"Looks like you're special too.", Lexi said to him, without any care in her voice. Jak looked at her in confusion. "Wait, you don't know?" For the first time, she smiled, especially at Jak's reaction to her question.

Lexi leaned over to the wall and banged on it with her fist, the sound of the metal echoing in the room. "Hey, Quinn!", she yelled. "The newbie doesn't know why he's here!" She laughed at the statement, as if it was something amusing.

After a moment of silent, another female voice was heard on the other side of the wall who was also laughing hysterically. "Just wait 'til they put him in the chair. Then he'll have a pretty good idea."

Jak didn't respond. He simply say on his mattress as he tried to take in his surroundings and what was going on. Not less than an hour ago, he was launched into a strange new world, unlike anything he'd ever seen, and was immediately arrested by a bunch of strangers. Now he was thrown in a cell, with no indication of where he was.

"What's your name?", Lexi asked. He stayed silent. "You don't talk much do you?" Still no response. "I'll take that as a 'no' then."

Their 'conversation' was cut off by the cell door opening and Erol was standing in the doorway, with two guards by his side. "Feeding time, freaks." The two guards slid a small plate of bread and water towards the prisoners.

Lexi chuckled as she picked up the small loaf. "Bread? What happened, Erol? Did you get hit on the head and suddenly have a change of heart?"

Erol slammed the door shut. "I'd watch it if I were you. I'm pretty sure you actually want to eat this time."

The girl huffed and dug her teeth into the bread like a rabid animal. Jak slowly picked up his share of the food. He had no clue as to how long he was out for, but his stomach felt so empty that he'd eat anything at this point.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Erol hasn't left his spot on the other side of the door. "Good news, _Jak_ , tomorrow, by order to Baron Praxis, the 'experiments' begin." Right after he finished talking, Erol left the two prisoners.

 _Wait. How does he know my name? Why does he know my name? Experiments? What did he mean by that? Does he know about Samos and Keira? Are they also here? Oh Keira, where are you? I hope you're alright…_

"So, _Jak_? That's your name, huh?" He nodded in response. His constant silence began to tick Lexi off. "Are you _ever_ gonna talk?" Jak grinned and shrugged his shoulders, annoying her further. He never talked much back home and didn't really want to start with a bunch of strange people he didn't even know.

"Well, anyways, looks like you're gonna get your fair share of crap tomorrow."

"He's not gonna last the week!", Quinn interjected.

Lexi smirked, almost a little sinisterly. "Good luck, Jak."

 **This is basically a re-telling of Jak 2, but with Lexi in the mix. The first chapters will cover what happened while Jak and Lexi were in prison for the two years before Daxter saves them, so that we can capture the type of person who Lexi is and how this experience changed Jak.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

 **Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

His eyes cracked open slightly as the sound of metallic banging woke him from his slumber. The sound didn't come from him and Lexi's cell, but the cell from his right: Quinn. After about another minute of continuous banging, her jail cell clanked open and the sound was replaced by the girl yelling as two Krimzon guards dragged her out.

Jak climbed from his bed and put his ear to the door only to hear her screaming at Errol. Then, for a moment, everything went quiet, a pregnant silence hung the air. The prisoners all jumped out of their skin as Quinn shrieked out once again only this time felt different. Normally, they'd hear her struggle against the guards like a stubborn child, but now she sounded like she was in pain.

Looking through the small bars on the door, he could see the woman strapped to the strange chair that was stationed in the middle of the prison. Some weird type of needle was hanging above her body that was pumping a substance into her heart and around her being. Something about it seemed familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. He backed away once he figured out what it was.

Dark Eco.

A million thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to work out why these people would have Eco. And why they were injecting prisoners with it. Based on what he knew about the subject, it definitely would not end well.

"Like what you see?", a sarcastic voice cut through his thoughts. Lexi was sitting upright on her bed against the wall. It looked like she was watching Jak the whole time and was intrigued by his expression.

He wanted to ask what was going on but he couldn't formulate a sentence. What was going to happen to him?

"Hope you do, otherwise you're in for a real treat." His eyes locked with hers. He had never met people like Lexi before, probably because he grew up in a home where everyone wasn't a cryptic psycho. Had she been subjected to the same torture as everyone else? If so, why isn't she dead yet? Or at least injured in some way?

Lexi wasn't exactly thinking the same thing. "You know, if I had a nickel for every time you didn't talk I'd be living in the Palace." Jak rolled his eyes, not wanting to deal with his cellmate's sarcasm.

She crossed her legs. "But in all serious, I meant what I said last night: good luck." The words themselves sounded very sincere but her tone of voice was too somber for his liking.

Quinn's screaming suddenly ceased as the machine whirred and the latches on her wrists and hands snapped open. She collapsed from the chair and the guards caught her.

One of the men surrounding the chair scoffed. "Pathetic.", he sneered. "Tell the Baron that this freak was ineffective once again." Jak could recognise the voice of the man called 'Erol'.

The clank of her cell filled the air as Quinn was thrown back into her cell, mumbling something incomprehensible. Suddenly, her words became much clearer and her speech soon turned into a manic and psychotic laughter that echoed throughout the entire facility.

The laughter was enough to send a chill down everybody's spines. Lexi crawled over to the wall and banged against it with her fist. "Hey Jet! What's up with Quinn?!"

A young male voice replied, "I-I-I I don't know! She just started acting like this out of nowhere! I think these experiments are driving her crazy."

Lexi scrunched her face. "Wasn't she already crazy to start with?"

"Well, yes but that's not the point."

If Jak thought that no injury came from these experiments then he was wrong.

Then his cell was pulled open and a trio of guards entered, making Jak back away slightly. Two of the guards grabbed one of his arms and the remaining one knocked him to his feet. As they dragged him out and towards the futuristic-looking chair, Jak tried his best to resist but the guards were too strong. He looked back at Lexi who was studying his reaction to what was about to happen to him.

Forcefully and painfully, they shoved him onto the chair and the cuffs immediately confined him. His attempts at struggling against them were to no avail. The sound of whirring caused his head to snap up to the sight of the needle-like machine lowering towards his heart. He struggled again.

After about another minute of the moving machine, it ceased movement inches above his chest. A sinister chuckle was heard from his right and could see Erol's hand grasped on some sort of button. His eyes narrow and his smile grew as he pressed it.

Suddenly, everything went still. The familiar Dark Eco travelled from the source to the tip of the needle. Once it made contact with his body, Jak felt like his heart was being ripped apart. His blood ran hot like molten lava, threatening to burn him from the inside out. He couldn't tell if he was screaming or not since all his surrounding went completely silent. An unfamiliar urge came over Jak; he felt like he could break from his cuffs and smash his way out of wherever he was. But something was still repressing that feeling which made him feel completely powerless.

It soon came to a complete stop and everything seemed as if it were normal again. A deafening sound ringed in Jak's ears that made him unaware of the guards uncuffing him, dragging him back and shutting the door on his cell.

The ringing stopped and he groaned as he rubbed his head. He heard Lexi walk over and sit next to him.

"So… how was it?" Looking up, he stared into her light chocolate eyes and, for a moment, saw a glimmer of innocence but was replaced with something darker by the torture that these people inflicted upon the prisoners. He pressed a finger to his throat, reluctant to make a sound.

After a moment of consideration, he just about managed to say, "What was that?"

"Lexi's eyes widened in surprise and threw her arms up in the air. "He talks! Finally! Praise the Precursors! I swear second with this tedious silence I would've beaten a respond out of you."

All Jak could do was stare at her. Just what in the world was she on about? However, he himself was surprised that he talked; he had never talked a lot back home, if at all. Now he was able to hear the sound of his own young masculine voice.

He realised that his cellmate was still giggling but a stern look from him was enough to get her to answer his question. "That, my friend, was your first good ol' dose of Dark Eco." Jak was about to replied but Lexi had already read his mind. "Why, you may ask? Well, these assholes got into their heads that we're special, gifted by the Precursors blah blah blah. So they think that they can make us 'something more' to help them… win a war? I don't know, after a few years you tend to not give a crap."

Jak put his hands to his head. "This makes no sense."

Lexi nodded. "Yeah. But sometimes sense can be boring."

"… you're nuts."

"You only noticing this now?"

He chuckled slightly. "Lexi, how did you end up in here?"

"The same way anybody does: I got pulled off streets for just doing what I did. I didn't commit a crime, but according to Erol, we did. Being 'freaks'."

"What do you mean 'freaks'?"

"Who am I, the Oracle? I don't know everything, I'm just telling you the same crap I tell anyone whose thrown in a cell with me."

"His eyes widened slightly at the thought of many other people being subjected to the same things they were. "How many other cellmate's have you had?"

She groaned. "What is it with you and the damn questions? How about I turn the tables on you? How did you/em end up here?"

A vision flashed across his mind of him and his friends being hurled through a strange portal and then waking up in a new world. He shivered. "I honestly don't know."

Lexi rose an eyebrow. "What do mean?"

He stuttered, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. "I'm not exactly from here. I'm from some other place, that's way different than here. Probably another world."

"And you thought I was the nutty one."

"I don't expect you to believe me. You're the one who asked."

"You know Jak… I think we're gonna get along just fine.", Lexi replied with a smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you just told me the craziest thing I've ever heard, you seem to be handling things just fine and we're one day in and I haven't tried to rip you apart yet.", she said cheerfully.

"Good to know.", Jak said with a nervous laugh.

"Anyways. I wanna hear all about this so called 'other world' you're from. And how you ended up here."

"It's a really long story. You sure you wanna listen to all of it?"

Lexi gestured to their cell. "It's not like we're going anyway anytime soon."

* * *

 **Thanks again for reading this chapter. Remember to review!**

 **XXX**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

 _2 Years Later…_

The screams and shrieks of Jak's voice echoed through the Fortress and back again. For the last two years, the Dark Eco injections became more like a procedure: twice a day, everyday. The experiments tired Jak out, physically and mentally and recently they becoming more than he could handle. On the other hand, Lexi had supposedly been subjected to the torture way more than Jak could ever understand, to a point where the only change she would display is losing the very little of sanity she had left. But still she managed to hold onto that little bit of mind and Jak commended her for that.

However, they weren't the only things changing. For some reason, Jak and Lexi seemed to be more resistant to the experiment than the other inmates; the remaining amount were either killed by them or driven further than the edge of insanity so they had to be put down. Because of that, the two of them were placed into different cells, which was probably for the best, due to the two of them getting strangely violent toward one another.

Lexi watched through the gap in her cell curiously as the strange substance was forced into her "friend" once again. It was so interesting to her that she didn't pay attention to the one and only Baron Praxis, the one responsible for her torture, impatiently pacing back and forth by the torture instrument. Despite her burning hot hatred towards Erol, she didn't even acknowledge his sadistic smile that went from the chair then to her cell.

For another several minutes, nothing but Jak's screaming and the crackling electricity filled the air until the device, along with Jak's body, came to a sudden stop.

The Baron huffed. "I was under the impression that _this_ one might be different."

Erol spoke in an eerily calm voice. "He's surprisingly resistant to your 'experiments' Baron Praxis. I fear the 'Dark Warrior' programme has failed."

He growled and grabbed Jak by the head hoping to gauge a response. Nothing. "You should at least be dead with all the Dark Eco I pumped into you."

"What now? Enemy armies are pressing their attacks and without a new weapon we can't continue to fight them."

Praxis turned and locked eyes with Lexi. She wouldn't let his power faze her. "I will not be remembered as the man who lost this city to _those things_!" He moved swiftly out the room. "Move forward with the backup plan!", he ordered. "And finish off those… _things_ tonight."

"As you wish.", Erol replied, a little too enthusiastic. "I'll be back later.", he sneered at Jak, who was still exhausted by his recent dosage of hell. He moved past Lexi's cell and banged on it with his fist. She didn't flinch. "That goes for you too Lexi. May the Precusors have mercy on you." He moved out the room and paused in the doorway. "On second thought, maybe not." And with that he left.

"I hate you.", she spat with all the bitterness she had inside her. She looked back at the boy in the chair and a slight twinge of pity edged inside her heart. She knew that Jak was more than capable to make it through the experiments, but as she saw him lie there, motionless, something felt different.

Suddenly, a large duffel bag appeared from the chasm below which perplexed Lexi. She twitched her head to investigate the movement. Then a hover craft floated out from the darkness carrying some sort of small creature. He was orange in colour and was wearing a pair of goggles, similar to Jak's. He appeared to be a type of weasel creature and was wearing a smug and goofy smile. It took a second for her brain to click: Daxter; from the stories Jak told her about his supposed 'other world'. But now that his friend is there right in front of her eyes, then maybe he wasn't as insane as she thought.

She stayed quiet as the craft floated towards Jak. "Jak! Am I glad to see you!" When he didn't get a response, he looked a little concerned. "Hey, it's me, Daxter." Jak was just able to crack his eyes open before instantly closing again. Daxter narrowed his eyes. "Well that's a fine hello. I've literally been looking for you for two years!" Now, Daxter was desperate, gripped Jak by the shirt and frantically shook him. "Say something! Just this _once_!"

All of a sudden, Jak's eyes sprung wide open and almost flashed a dark purple. "I'm gonna _kill_ Praxis!", he growled with a ferocity that both surprised and concerned Lexi. She jumped back in a strange fear, never seeing this part of Jak before.

Daxter clamped a hand over his mouth. "Shh! Right now we gotta get you outta here." He examined the restraints around his wrists, not noticing Jak struggle against them and his heavy breathing, with a slight growl in it. "Just let me figure out how to get the cuffs off your chair and-"

Suddenly, he let out a feral cry and that was it. It was like the switch to Jak's humanity had been turned off on a dime and these primal urges clouded his mind. His newfound strength was enough to burst off the chair and the Jak everyone knew transformed. His entire appearance transition to a dark sickly grey, horns like the devil's grew from his head, razor sharp talons replaced his fingers and his eyes turned to pitch black. To Lexi, they were the most significant change about him.

Despite the torture, the Jak she met two years ago was able to hold onto a shred of innocence that was inhuman to her. It intrigued her. But now, when she looked into the eyes of the beast before her, the eyes that threatened to take her soul, they were the eyes of a monster. She want to move to safety, but gripped the door tightly to stop herself from moving.

"Jak…", she whispered. Or at least, she thought she whispered, as it was loud enough for Daxter to hear her. He looked at the imprisoned girl and back at his friend, not entirely sure what was going on.

An animalistic smile flashed across his face when he saw Daxter and stumbled off the chair and over to his prey. The closer he got, the more unsettled Daxter became. "Jak… hey, buddy. Easy there." The beast raised his claws ready to rip apart his victim. "It's your old pal Daxter, remember?"

The monster bore its teeth letting out a snarl. "Jak stop.", Lexi firmly said. He didn't listen. "Stop." Nothing. Daxter shielded himself with his paws preparing himself for his demise. "STOP!"

His claws stopped above Daxter's head, as if the switch was clicked back. His demeanour changed back to normal, like nothing had happened. He clutched his head in pain. "Daxter?", he said confused.

"Okay, what _was_ that?", Daxter screeched. "Remind me not to piss you off." He hopped on his partner's shoulder, like old times. "Come on tall, dark and gruesome. We're outta here." He gestured towards the duffel bag. "I, uh, brought you some new threads. Put 'em on."

Jak nodded and rustled around in the bag and before he knew it he was out of his filthy prison uniform and into a more comfortable attire, like he was shedding his skin.

Daxter looked at him, concerned about what happened previously. "You, uh, alright?"

"Yeah.", he replied. Daxter widened his eyes slightly, surprised his friend was now talking.

"Alright!", Daxter declared. "Let's move!"

"Uh, hello-ooo!", Lexi shouted, annoyed. "You gonna let me out before I tear this door down?"

Jak's mind clicked, remembering his still-imprisoned "friend". "Oh, right." He rushed over to the cell and punched the button. The door slides and clanked open and Lexi squinted at the light. She reluctantly stepped out of her cell and, for some reason, felt strange about the fact she was finally escaping.

Oh, crap, she's actually escaping! For as long as she could remember, Lexi had been trapped in a living nightmare and subjected to never ending torment. The minute she was thrown into that cell, she was instantly braided of her innocence, sanity and humanity and replaced with bitterness, insanity and heartlessness. But now it all came to end, or so she thought. Because, despite what was in front of her, if she was anything like what Jak turned into, it scared her that she would turn into a bigger monster than she already was.

She immediately walked out into the open, blank faced, and dug through the duffel bag, scavenging for spare clothes. She gestured for the two to look away and Daxter (a little reluctant) complied. In a matter of minutes, Lexi changed out of the clothes she had her whole life and into a simple shirt, leather jacket and high boots. She turned to see Jak and Daxter still facing away. She let them knew that she was done and the two turned around and Daxter gave a wolf whistle in response. Giving him a grin, she walked over and smacked him over the head.

Daxter shook it off as if it were nothing. "Whoa! Feisty one isn't she!"

Jak sighed and shook his head. "Lexi, I see you've met Daxter."

She rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately."

"Hey! I'm a pretty nice otstle once you get to know me!"

Lexi crossed her arms. "I bet."

Jak stepped in between the two. "Introductions aside, shall we get outta here before someone notices we're gone?"

The now-freed inmate grinned. "We shall."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 4:

 **Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Without any hesitation, Lexi and Jak, with Daxter on his shoulder, darted towards a secret exit from their prison. Jak was more aware that the Fortress would now be on high alert and would have to keep sharp. But Lexi had been kept captive for as long as she could remember so, understandably, she wanted to get the hell out of there.

As they were climbing and fighting, Jak was a little rusty on the skills he hadn't used for two years. After a few reminders from Daxter, it all came back to him and it was no longer much of a challenge. It came to as a surprise when Lexi defeated the guards with as much ferocity as Jak despite showing no indication that she was a fighter.

"Wow!", Daxter exclaimed as she took down a guard with ease. "You're good."

Lexi shrugged as if it was nothing. "Guess I'm a fast learner." But for some reason, Lexi felt that wasn't the case. Sure she could be a fast learner but she had never done anything like that to her recollection. Something was stirring up inside of her, making her _want_ to take her enemies down. She couldn't stop herself. She thought back to Jak and his horrific transformation and wondered if the same thing was happening to her.

She trotted over to where the two were standing and saw that he was overlooking another possible route. Breaking the entrance with ease, Lexi and Jak slid down the passage with Daxter clinging on his shoulder. Before reaching the end, the both did a high jump and climbed towards yet another exit.

Instead of being led to another wave of guards, as they expected, they made a drop that led to…

The outside!

They were finally free from captivity and were able to roam freely without the fear of torture. But were they truly free? Despite escaping the Baron had left an eternal mark on them that would never disappear. And Jak hated him for that.

As they were roaming the dark and grim city, getting a good look at all the shady buildings and the gloomy sky, an old man dressed in a blue cloak and holding a staff, was guiding a young boy, who was wearing some sort of amulet, down the path. Once he had crossed paths with the trio, he accidentally bumped into Jak.

"Hello strangers.", his raspy voice said. "My name is Kor. May I help-"

All of a sudden Jak, still a little aggressive, marched up to the old man. "Hey! Mind telling us where we are?!"

Daxter jumped from his should let to level with the child beside them. "Uh sorry. He's new to the whole… talking thing."

Lexi snorted. "That's an understatement."

Kor brushed himself down. "Well my angry young friend, you are a "guest" of his "majesty" Baron Praxis. The ruler of "glorious" Haven City." He gestured around him to show his words weren't sincere in the slightest.

Lexi stood next to Jak. "Well the two of us were just "guests" in the prison.", she replied making her signature sarcasm as obvious as possible.

"Whether you're in a prison or not, we're all prisoners either way.", Kor said solemnly.

Suddenly, the familiar sound of metal armour clanking sparked both the trio's and Kor's interest. Their uniforms literally made Lexi see red and she wanted anything more than to rip them apart.

Kor put a hand over his mouth and began guiding the child away. "I think it's time for us to be going."

But before they knew it, the soldiers had surrounded them. One stepped forward. "By order of his eminence, the Grand Protector of Haven City, Baron Praxis, everyone in this sector is hereby under arrest for suspicion of harbouring underground fugitives. Surrender and die!"

Daxter jumped in. "Ah, isn't supposed to be OR DIE?!"

The old man stumbled back in fear, making sure the child was safe behind him. "Not in this city." He looked to Jak and Lexi. "Protect us from these guards and I'll introduce you to someone who can help you."

Jak's eyes narrowed his eyes at the guards and Lexi cracked her knuckles maniacally. "Gladly."

Before they knew it, the two of them were in the midst of the fighting, punching and kicking the Krimzon Guards like it was no big deal. After a few guards were taken out, a sharp pain shot through Lexi's head. She felt electricity surge through her body as every part of her being felt like it was on fire. For some reason, she could _feel_ her body mould into something… inhuman. She _felt_ that she was transforming into what she saw minutes ago.

And she was right.

She looked to Jak who also transformed. She could tell primal instincts were taking over but the way he looked at her… it was almost as if he was inviting her to join the fight. Whether it was the new animalistic urges or just being plain Lexi, she accepted the offer.

The two fought side by side as they mowed down all the guards in their way. They were gonna take down the Baron. And this was a good start. However, even when they were all gone the two couldn't stop.

They were still monsters.

All of a sudden the pain in their heads came again but this time it was so agonising that Lexi dropped to her knees and clutched her head in her hands whilst Jak balled his fists, purple sparks still coming from his hands.

Daxter ran over to them. "Guys, you okay?!"

Jak was painfully straining to keep his anger and power at bay. "The-the Dark Eco… it's doing something to us!"

The old man stroked his beard. "Interesting." Kor stepped over. "What you two just did was very brave." He brought out the child from behind him. "Thank you so much but I must get this child out of here."

Lexi slowly stood up and got a good look at the boy. She brushed herself down. "Really? Doesn't look too special."

"Hey!", Daxter exclaimed, remembering the deal. "What about our end of the bargain?"

"A group known as the Underground are planning a rebel against the Baron.", he replied secretly, making sure no nearby guards were listening in. "It's leader, the Shadow, may let you join their ranks." He handed them a slip of paper with directions. "Ask for a man for Torn." And with that, he left.

"You think we can trust him?", Daxter asked as he jumped on his partner's shoulder.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. But if there's a chance we can take down the Baron, I'll take it." He poured out his words with hatred which still disturbed Daxter a little.

"Uh Jak, I know it wasn't easy for you and Lexi to go through that but-"

"Now that you mention it-", Jak interrupted, intentionally avoiding the topic. He wasn't ready to talk about his nightmare of an experience. He looked around to see that his partner was no longer around. "-where _is_ Lexi?"

"What?!", Daxter yelled. "We left her alone for just ten seconds! Oh no ten seconds in and she's already dead!", he declared, being his over dramatic self.

Then a crash and an explosion was heard.

"Meant to do that!", Lexi exclaimed as she crashed a zoomer into a wall. After accelerating a bit, and then a lot, she pulled up in front of the two. "Jump in."

Jak shook his head. "I'm _not_ getting in a vehicle with you."

Lexi smiled smugly. "Fine, if you don't want a lift…" She raised the zoomer into the air causing Jak and Daxter to make her pull the zoomer up so that they could climb in.

They quickly zoomed through the city and toward the Slums which was what appeared to be the most run down place in the city. They found the dead end alley where two people were standing. In front of the building's entrance was a blonde woman wearing a green shirt and blue shorts.

"We're looking someone called Torn.", Lexi said. "An old guy called Kor sent us."

As if on cue a talk man with brown and tattoos all over his face walked up to them. "Are you him?", Jak asked.

"So, you're looking to fight beside us?.", Torn asked with a deep voice.

"Can we speak to the Shadow?", Jak askied straight away.

Torn chuckled. "They're not the type to meet new recruits. If you want to join, you gotta do a little test. Steal the Baron's banner from the top of the Ruined Tower." He threw the knife in the air and caught it. "Then… maybe we'll consider it."

* * *

"I can't believe we agreed to do this.", Daxter said nervously as the trio scaled the tower that looked as if it was about to fall apart.

"I can!", Lexi replied as she jumped across the platforms that crumbled when stepped on. "This is the most fun I've had in years!"

"It's not like we have much of a choice if we want to join the Underground.", Jak said, who wanted to take the Baron down as much as Lexi. Daxter grumbled.

After a while, the trio came across the flag and when Jak picked it up, he and Daxter did a little dance that perplexed Lexi. However, their little victory was interrupted when the final support of the tower gave way. The ground beneath them disappeared and Jak and Lexi gracefully fell down and were almost enjoying it whereas Daxter screamed the whole way down, trying to find something to grab on.

They slid down a wire to come face to face with Torn and presented the flag like a trophy. They did it. "So, we in?", Jak asked smugly.

As the tower finally fell to the ground Torn, a little disappointed, said, "Yeah."

* * *

 **So Jak and Lexi are part of the Underground now! Just a heads up, some missions will be written throughout but if they're not plot crucial then I'll sum it up in a paragraph or so. Thanks to everyone who has read, followed, faved ect. Hope you enjoying it!**

 **XXX**


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

After Jak, Daxter and Lexi were (begrudgingly) accepted into the Underground, Torn was more than prepared to leave the desolate wasteland, leaving the trio to catch up.

Making their way back to their parked zoomer by the security wall, the three of them mounted the zoomer, with Lexi manoeuvring around the tight corners with more skill than before.

She changed the level setting for them to fly at a higher altitude so that the zoomer wouldn't run into an unsuspecting civilian. As they were flying, they all took note of the section of the city they were flying in. It didn't look like the slums area, but could see that the town had seen better days. The buildings were decaying, windows were smashed in and groups of civilians were crowded around campfires.

"And Praxis is supposed to be our 'glorious protector'? That's going well.", Lexi asked with a mixture of sarcasm and bitterness. "I know for a fact that we don't like the Baron for… obvious reasons, but the people don't have it easy either. I don't know, it's just… sad." Her hardened expression softened at the sight of the people in tattered clothes struggling to get warm.

Lexi turned another corner. "I mean even if the Underground do dethrone Praxis how are they going to fix all this?"

Jak sighed as he followed the girl's lingering line of sight. "I don't know. But the sooner the people of the city know what Praxis has been doing, the sooner we can get rid of him." The statement had seemed pretty harmless to Lexi but to Daxter, someone who knew Jak since childhood, could almost sense the grim implications behind what he was saying. During the two years he had been searching for Jak, Daxter couldn't even begin to comprehend what his best friend was going through when captured by those guards. Inhumane experiments hadn't even crossed his mind.

"Hey, uh, Jak?", he said. "Why don't we take it one step at a time? Besides, violence never solves anything."

He smirked. "Careful, Dax. You almost sounded like Samos there."

Daxter chuckled nervously. "A fate worse than death." He had always possessed that jokester personality but was now struggling to keep it up after witnessing the sudden change in his friend's character.

Lexi turned the zoomer around another corner. "Tell me about it. Based on what Jak's told me, that sounds about right."

He looked to his partner. "You told her about Samos?"

"Yeah.", Jak replied. "We shared a cell for two years. I had to talk about _something_."

"Can't argue with that.", Daxter shrugged.

After making sure there were no guards in the area, Lexi parked the zoomer by the hideout. When they walked in, Torn almost looked like he was dead inside. Obviously he wasn't a people person.

Daxter strolled across the room like he owned the place up to a nearby tap. Torn seemed to grin slightly when he saw Daxter's discomfort as he was drinking something that definitely wasn't water. He jumped back from the tap and Lexi and Jak couldn't hold their laughter which Daxter frowned at.

Torn walked up and turned the tap off. "The Baron turned off all water to the slums. He's has no problem ruining lives just to get us to quit what we're doing. He did this sort of thing when I was in the Krimzon Guard."

Lexi's eyes widened. " _You_ were a Krimzon Guard?!" She narrowed her eyes. "Then I'm assuming you knew about the 'Dark Warrior' programme? What the Baron was doing to civilians?"

Jak stepped between her and Torn and laughed nervously. "I think what she's _trying_ to say is that would explain your… charming sense of humour."

"Right.", Torn said unamused. He tilted his head to lock eyes with Lexi. "And to answer your question, yes I did know about the programme. That's another reason why I wanted to stop him. But based on what I've been told, it seems the Baron successful." He looked to Jak and then back to Lexi. "I don't know if I should be sympathetic or glad that you're on our side."

"Anyways.", Daxter interrupted with a roll of his eyes.

Torn sighed and went back to the issue at hand. "My friend in the Guard tells me the valve to turn the water back on is located _outside_ the city, at the pumping station."

"Outside the city?", asked Jak. "What about the security walls?"

"What about the Metal Heads?!", Daxter asked, taking a step forward.

"Take the zoomer to the Pumping Station and the Metal Heads there should be easy to take out."

"Don't worry Daxter.", said Lexi, taking out the keys to the zoomer. "It'll be quick; just in and out. Piece of cake."

"Easier said than done."

* * *

Once the trio had reached the edge of the city, Lexi made her to way to the north wall as Torn instructed and found a small switch by the drain pipe. She flicked it to the side a and the gears immediately began to whir as the doors creaked and clanked open.

Jak took a defensive stance and Daxter remained on his shoulder, alert of his surroundings as they prepared themselves for anything that lied on the other side of the door.

"Stay alert.", Jak said in a firm voice.

"You got it.", Lexi replied adjusting the bag she acquired earlier across her body. She raised fists, not tearing her eyes away from the door.

Taking a step through the threshold of the monstrous door, the team could instantly the transition from the city to the outside. There was definitely more blooming vegetation but contrasted the various swamp areas on either side of the pathway. There was still Haven City's industrial work that looked almost like a mini elevator for the Krimzon Guard.

However, they didn't have enough time to take in the scenery as a band of mutant monsters began swarming the trio. The creatures had a grey complexion with an insect-like head and beady yellow eyes. But the one thing that stood out to the group more than its razor teeth was the round glowing gem imbedded in its head.

"Jak! Lexi!", Daxter exclaimed. "Those must be the Metal Heads!"

The first one made a pounce at Jak but he began pulling his punches and, after several, the Metal Head collapsed to the ground, the yellow of its eyes fading to black as the skull gem now laid beside its lifeless.

Jak didn't have enough time to ponder as another monstrous being sprinted towards him. He gave it a powerful kick followed by Daxter leaping forward to give some of his own punches. The Metal Head shook off the attack but Jak gave it once last punch before it didn't get back up.

"Nice one.", Daxter complimented.

"Same to you.", he replied, a little astonished. He remembered back home when Daxter refused to get involved in any violent situations and left all the fighting him but could now see that two years in Haven City must've built up his confidence.

They turned to help Lexi and her wave of Metal Heads but she seemed to be handling herself just fine. She was now taking on two at a time, kicking one to the floor then sending another one flying into the swamp. For a moment, Jak could swear he saw purple electricity sparking at her fingertips. All of a sudden she cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground, clutching her head in her heads. The duo were at her side in an instant. "Lexi! What's wrong?!" Jak took down another Metal Head before it got the drop on her. All she did was groan out in agony. Soon, the pain was gone almost as quick as it had come and Lexi swiftly rose to her feet and shot out a blast of Dark Eco towards the last monster.

Jak though his mind was playing tricks on him, but almost swore he saw Lexi's form flicker from what she normally looked like to her dark demeanour. Based on Daxter's reaction that seemed to be the case.

Lexi stumbled slightly and blinked as if she wasn't aware of what she'd done. She looked at the fallen Metal Head and could see a hole burning through its chest. "Uh… what just happened?"

Jak scratched the back of his head. "I don't really know. You seemed to be doing just fine taking down the Metal Heads but then you just collapsed."

"Not to mention you used Dark Eco to toast the thing!", Daxter exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air to emphasise his shock.

In response, Lexi groaned and rubbed her aching head. She was now aware of what had happened. She locked eyes with Jak and gave him a serious look as the issue at hand didn't just apply to her. "We've got to get this under control."

"Understatement of the year.", Daxter declared.

"She's got a point, Dax.", Jak replied. "If this sort of thing happens again _in battle_ , someone could get hurt or worse."

Just as Lexi was about to reply, she caught sight of Jak's arm. Her eyes widened. "Speaking of which, Jak, you're bleeding!" The man's eyes darted to his left bicep and saw his jacket was torn and blood was dripping from it. He had been so caught up in the fight he didn't even notice a Metal Head had gotten him.

He was about to get a closer look at it but Lexi was already ahead of him. "Don't touch it.", she ordered. She zipped open her bag and Jak and Daxter saw that it was full of medical supplies. She soaked a cloth in rubbing alcohol and wiped it over the wound. Jak winced and gritted his teeth for a moment but soon enough all evidence of the attack was gone and his arm was tightly wrapped in a bandage.

He inspected her handiwork and nodded. "Thanks."

She placed the supplies back in her bag. "Courtesy of Torn. I guess he doesn't hate us enough to want us dead."

"Thank the Precursors.", Daxter added.

After the trio were sure that they were healed and no other Metal Heads were in the area, they made their way to the small elevator and were risen to another level of ground that had more lively vegetation. But the most distinctive thing was the complex pipework that almost stretched out into the trees.

Daxter's gaze went to the small wheel at the end of the pipe and rubbed his paws together. "Ah, the valve. Allow me."

Lexi crossed her arms. "This'll be good."

Daxter snorted in response and proceeded to turn the valve. However, it seemed to be a little difficult for Daxter as at first he found it hard to make the thing budge and began pouring all of his effort and energy into the task. Jak had asked if he wanted some help but the ostle simply brushed him off. He continued to turn to valve for several minutes still to no avail.

Finally, Jak balled his hand into a first and banged the metal wheel only for it to spin out of control. The pipe opened up and sucked Daxter in and the poor ostle now spent a few moments flying through the pipework. Whenever he hit a tight corner, the metal clanged followed by Daxter yelping out in pain, causing the two outside to since slightly. Once he had reached the end of the endeavour, Daxter groaned.

His voice echoed from the other end of the pipe. "Guys… please… help." In an instant, Jak turned the wheel (a little more gently) and Daxter flew out to the groaned. Jak and Lexi knelt down in front of him, clearly amused by the situation. Jak opened his mouth but Daxter held up a paw before he could say anything. "Don't say it. Next time, one of _you_ turns the valve."

Jak and Lexi rolled their eyes in unison and silently agreed to humour the guy. "Alright, Dax. Whatever you say.", the man responded, stretching out his arm so that Daxter could climb back onto his shoulder.

The trio made their way back to the hideout and the second the door slid open, Daxter bolted to the other side of the room to wash his mouth with _clean_ water to get rid of the horrid taste still lingering in his mouth. He then noticed the blonde girl from before was also in the room. He shot her a charming smile and she giggled in response.

Torn chuckled. "The slum's water is back on! Can't wait to see the Baron squirm at this news!"

"Something tells me doing missions just to make Praxis mad isn't the sign of a successful rebel group.", Lexi whispered mockigly to Jak.

To her chagrin, the Underground rebel heard her. "I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you. Our spy in the Guard is doing some recon in the Fortress after he overheard an ammo dump is gonna be placed there. Until we can figure out exactly where it's gonna be, we should rest up." The group agreed; it had been a long day.

He nodded towards the blonde. "Tess, show the new recruits where they'll be sleeping."

The woman replied in a bubbly and cheery voice. "Sure thing Torn." She led the trio to the back room that was larger than main operations room where there were several bunk beds for the Underground members. "Make yourselves at home." Tess then proceeded to leave the room.

"What about you?", Jak asked.

Tess whipped around on her heel, a little startled. "Oh! Um… not yet. There's, uh, something I've got to… take care of." She lightly tugged at her hair, trying a little too hard to appear innocent. Before anyone could question her, she bolted out.

Lexi leaned against the bed. "Okay, that was weird."

"Eh, it's probably nothing." Daxter shrugged and made himself comfortable at the foot of Jak's bed.

Jak laid down on the bed. "Either way, we should probably stay alert. Who knows what they got planned for us tomorrow?"

Jak was lying down on the top bunk and could hear Lexi groaning from below. She stretched out on the bed. "It feels so good not to sleep on a bed that smells like crap."

"Miles better than the prison.", Jak chuckled. But in actuality, the two of them making light of the situation was only to avoid going into depth about their years of torture. Jak gritted his teeth and buried his face into the pillow in a feeble attempt to shut out the images of the Baron examining him closely whenever he had his daily injects or the times where he see Erol beside him, smiling and snickering at his pain.

He understood that Baron Praxis was trying to create weapons to combat the Metal Heads, but why _him_? Why Lexi? What made them so special that they survived the doses of Dark Eco when no one else did? Now that he thought of it, how _did_ the Baron find a way to ultilise Dark Eco? The last time he and Daxter went up against the destructive energy, it nearly destroyed the world.

Jak sighed and stopped his mind from filling itself with questions he didn't have the energy to answer. He was desperate for sleep, however it wouldn't come easy.

Because that night, he dreamt of a snarling, raging monster.

* * *

 **Whoo! What a long chapter! Next chapter we've got a dream sequence (kinda obvious) and we meet a new character as the plot progresses.**

 **See ya!**

 **XXX**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

 _Even after he cracked open his eyes, all Jak could see was darkness. He felt the sensation that he was floating but found that he could stand in the abyss once he gathered his bearings. Taking a step forward, he thrusted his arms in front of him but all he was grasping was air. Nothingness. He whipped his arms all around himself to find something. Anything to tell him where he was. To no avail, he grunted in annoyance only for an inhuman growl to come from him. This startled Jak, as this was a sound he'd never heard come from his own mouth before. It still gave no indication as to where he was and his frustration was starting to get the better of him._

 _In the midst of the darkness, a small glowing light appeared in the distance, abruptly catching Jak off guard. Even with it appearing miles away from him, it still shone with enough intensity to make him wince and shield his eyes with his arms. He lowered his arms for a moment and could just about see the light shaped into the form of a body. What was going on here?_

 _"Jak?!", a female voice asked, confused. He turned to see Lexi standing a few feet away from him, trying to avoid the blinding light, the same as him._

 _"Lexi?", he asked, bewildered. "Do you know where we are?" She shrugged in response. Looking around her, she had absolutely no clue where they could be. She had been inside the Fortress for the majority of her life, but had never seen a place so lifeless and grim as this._

 _Just as Lexi was about to voice her thoughts, a booming laughter echoed around them, threatening to shake the abyss around them. The ethereal form flinched slightly and a second later the light dissipated as if retreating._

 _"Did you really think coming here would stop me?!", the voice threatened. Jak stopped in his tracks. That voice… It sounded so familiar yet so foreign._

 _The void of darkness was disturbed as a towering beast burst forth in front of the duo. Jak ran to Lexi's side, both of them poised to protect each other. He narrowed his eyes at the monster and tried to get a better look it. It almost looked like a giant insect. Two soulless black eyes stared them down and razor edged teeth that could chew them up and swallow them whole. The two of them gasped in unison when they noticed the glowing skull gem stretching across its head._

 _"You're the leader of the Metal Heads, aren't you?!", Jak interrogated._

 _The beast cackled again. "Correct, my boy." His gaze travelled to Lexi. "And it seems you found a new friend. It's a pity about your other ones."_

 _Jak's eyes flashed with anger. "What do you mean?! Why did you even send us here?!"_

 _"How foolish. If I am truly going to annihilate this pathetic excuse of a city, you_ **weapons** _are in my way. No matter, Baron Praxis was foolish to think Dark Eco would make a difference but maybe it's power will destroy you both for me."_

 _It's laughter shook the floor again with enough power to send them both to their knees. Jak clutched at his head trying to push out the overpowering voice. His fists clenched, feeling electricity spark at his fingertips. He attempted to reach out a fiery hand to the Metal Head Leader but Lexi shoved it down._

 _"No, Jak! We still can't control the Eco yet! Don't give him what he wants!" But he didn't listen to her; he tried to rip out of her grip and his flickering transformation gave him strength that Lexi couldn't compete against._

 _"Over here.", a deep but gentle voice called. Lexi's head snapped to the source of the voice and could now see the glowing body of light had suddenly reappeared. There was nothing distinctive to it like it had no identity. It looked like it was reaching out to them._

 _"Who-?" But Lexi was interrupted before she could ask. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and even Jak's expression softened at the sight._

 _"Come quick.", it demanded._

 _The Metal Head Leader's head turned to see the spiritual form and it seemed like it was almost scared of it. "What?! How is this possible?!"_

 _Before it could do anything else, Lexi roughly grabbed Jak's hand, as he was still drifting between sanity to instability, and dragged him along with her. She took the light's hand and they well all consumed by a blinding radiance._

 _Jak quickly looked back to the beast and resisted the urge to sprint up and tear it to shreds. "It's only a matter of time, Jak! You_ will _succumb to the madness and if you don't, I'll kill you myself. We'll meet again soon enough, trust me on that one."_

* * *

"Jak! Wake up man!" Daxter's wild voice pulled Jak back to reality and he immediately shot upright, catching the ostle slightly off guard. His eyes darted around the room, trying to gather his bearings and confirm that he was actually back. Daxter leaned in and examined his worn face. "You okay there? You're not looking so hot?"

He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah I'm fine." He jumped down from the bed and saw that the one below him was bare. "Where's Lexi?"

"Oh, she got up early to get the mission brief from Torn. I tried talking to her, but it was like she wanted to get out of there."

Jak scratched his head. Could this have something to do with the dream he had? Or maybe it wasn't a dream. It felt so _real_ ; he could feel his eyes squint as the alien light burned his retinas. But if wasn't a dream, could that mean Lexi experienced it as well? He didn't want to look too much into it now, as it could just be paranoia getting the better of him, but if something like this happened again, then he should probably talk to her or Daxter about it (no matter how insane it sounded out loud).

He brushed himself down as Daxter made his way to the operations room and followed him in there. He could see Torn and Lexi huddled around a map, both looking deep in thought, although anybody could see that they weren't enjoying each other's company. Once he and Daxter were at the round table, Torn began to explain the verdict.

"Earlier this morning, our informant located the ammo dump in the Fortress." He showed where it was on the map by circling the area with his finger. Daxter jumped up at the table to get a closer look. "Get past the Krimzon Guards and blow up the ammo inside. No ammo, and the Baron will have a whole new problem."

Lexi pulled something small from her pocket. "All we got to do is hook this bomb to the ammo and hey presto!"

Daxter waved his arms to get the group's attention. "If _you're_ sending _us_ in, then what's with the 'we'?"

Jak slammed his fist on the table. "As long as Baron knows its us, I've got no problem."

"Hea, hear.", Lexi said sarcastically.

Torn laughed. He began to think that these guys weren't that bad, but still thought that they were insufferable at times. "Now that's what I like to hear."

* * *

Using the map Torn had used to locate the ammo dump, Lexi parked the zoomer around a back entrance to infiltrate the very place they never wanted to come back to again. She took a deep breath and looked to Jak. "You ready?"

He spared her a glance. "As I'll ever be." And with that, he opened the secret back entrance and the trio made their way through the facility. As expected, there were Krimzon guards patrolling the corridors and Jak and Lexi were forced to combat them. However, the Guards weren't as well trained as the Baron wanted the public to believe.

"No wonder the city's in ruins.", Lexi muttered. Curious, she knelt down next to the Guard she knocked out and took his weapon from his hands to inspect it. She scoffed. "And _no wonder_ they can't defend themselves." She held up the gun in front of the two males. "Look at this thing! It's flimsy, not a lot of care and the magazine doesn't even hold enough bullets." Standing back up, she threw it back down at the body. "I'd be ashamed to call _that_ a gun."

"You seem to know quite a bit about this stuff.", Daxter said, impressed by her knowledge.

She shrugged in response. "Growing up in the slums as a kid, I had to at least know the basics. Of course I had it taken from me when Erol dragged me off the streets and into a cell." Her voice sounded wistful when talking about her life before but her tone turned bitter when mentioning Erol. Jak shivered at the mention of his name despite not feeling cold. As if she read Jak's mind, Lexi swiftly changed the subject. "What about you guys?"

Before Jak could respond, Daxter swooped in. "Back home Jak wasn't really the type who would be able to shoot a gun. He could barely channel Eco without almost hitting me in the process."

"I wasn't that bad.", Jak argued.

Normally, Lexi would've laughed or made a a sarcastic comment but instead she cocked her her head to the side. "Hold up. You can channel Eco?"

The man look at his hands, remembering the times he had used the energy. "Uh yeah, I still don't exactly know how or why I can do it."

"How does it work?" He and Daxter then proceeded to explain how Eco worked back in their world. He told her about the times Blue Eco allowed him to move at impossible speed, Red granting him strength and Yellow allowing him to shoot blasts at enemies. The whole thing amazed her. It was almost a myth, a child's tale of people being able to manipulate the once mysterious yet dangerous energy. If he had this abiltity, would it have anything to do with why he was chosen for the experiments? Or why he could resist the Dark Eco experiments? But if that was the case, then there was also the question as to how _she_ could resist the experiments.

This wasn't the right time to solve this mystery, but Lexi knew what she wanted to do once she had the chance. For now, though, she would keep it to herself.

A clank from above caught all three off guard and Jak motioned for them to be quiet. He slowly ascended a nearby stairwell with Lexi not too far behind them. To their surprise, there weren't any guards but they were still on alert. The clank was heard again but even closer. It was coming from a nearby door.

They peeped around the corner to see several Krimzon Guards standing by containers of Eco and their guns were pointed at a large pipe filled to the brim with… Metal Heads!

"Shipment of Eco, courtesy of the Baron.", a Guard snapped. The Metal Heads snarled in response and the Guards aimed their guns at them in case they tried anything.

The trio slowly closed the door and walked so that they weren't within an earshot of either enemy. "Metal Heads?" Jak's voice was barely above a whisper. "Why're the Guards giving them _Eco_?"

Lexi sighed and shook her head. "Whatever the reason, it can't be good if the Baron _and_ the Metal Heads are involved."

Daxter was about to voice his opinion when the army tank Lexi inspected from before a nearby army tank suddenly thrummed to life and aimed it's gun at the trio. "Leg it!", he exclaimed. Jak and Lexi didn't have to be told twice. They burst through a pair of doors and _really_ hoped the tank wouldn't follow them, but luck wasn't currently on their side so it effortlessly crushed the doors down.

Lexi was narrowly avoiding the shots and had to resort to doing flips and somersaults to save her hide. However, Jak wasn't so skilled in that department so the tank managed to get a good shot in his side. He writhed in agony and was about to be hit square in the chest only for Lexi to shove him out of the way. She frantically rummaged through the medical kit and found a little green pack and pressed its contents against Jak's side. Strangely enough, both the wound and the pain were gone as if they were never there.

 _Green Eco perhaps?_ , Jak thought to himself. Before he could do anything else, the trio were forced to flee and Lexi pointed to a place that was on map and led Jak and Daxter through another door that led to a room filled to the brim of missiles.

Lexi looked to the groups of weapons, then the security tank and smirked. "Something tells me we won't need that bomb anymore." She grabbed Jak's hand and dragged him behind one of the groups and allowed the tank to shoot at them only for the shots to hit the weapons. Once he caught onto her plan, Jak (Daxter wasn't too fond of it) followed her lead whilst trying to mimic her acrobatics to avoid getting shot again.

When the final weapon was destroyed, the group thought that was the end of the mission, but a robotic voice told them otherwise. "Levels reaching 'critical'. Please evacuate area."

Daxter sighed. "We really can't catch a break these days, can we?" Jak didn't have time for his friend's sarcasm so he simply threw him back onto his shoulder and followed Lexi to the exit that led back to the city. Before they could pass the threshold of the door, the room exploded into flames sending the group flying into a wall.

Jak and Lexi struggled to get up but the feeling of Daxter wriggling out from underneath them was enough to push them to their feet. The ostle struggled to catch his breath. "Okay, that's it, I wanna go home."

"I wish that was an option, Dax.", Jak replied.

* * *

The group made their way back to the hideout still a little sore from the explosion but the information they found out was too important to wait to give.

Entering the building, Daxter jumped up next to Torn. "And there goes the ammo dump!"

Jak wasted no time telling Torn what they found out. "We saw something concerning in the Fortress: guards were giving Eco to the Metal Heads!"

Torn's back was previously facing the trio, but the information piqued his interest. He turned around with fear and confusion on his face, crossed his arms and brought a hand up to his chin. "Really? The Shadow will want to hear that."

"That reminds me.", Lexi said. "When do we get to meet him."

Torn laughed his signature dry chuckle. "I'm not showing you his face a day after joining us. Besides, he's currently attending to more important matters in the fight for the city."

"Blowing up ammunition isn't considered important to you people?", Jak asked with a mixture of humour and annoyed in his voice.

"Nevertheless, this is still something we should look into.", Torn said, looking deep in thought. He took out a small package and gave it to Jak. "One of our… suppliers needs his payment: a bag of Eco ore. Take it Hip Hog Heaven Saloon and ask for Krew. Once you're there, ask him for information. He's got connections and may know what's up."

"You got it!", Daxter replied enthusiastically.

"Are you still here?", Torn asked dryly.

* * *

The trio took the client's package to the back of the zoomer and the vehicle thrummed to life. They flew through the ruins of the slums and were ready for a change of scenery as they entered the more industrial part of the city. However, a cluster of police cruisers blocked their path and the Krimzon Guards on the ground began shooting at them. "They they are! Get them!"

As they were trying to manoeuvre through the cluster, a buzz from Lexi's bag distracted them. Daxter rummaged through it and pulled out some kind of communicator where Torn's voice came from. "Guys, get outta there!" Wasting no time, Lexi gained speed and turned a quick corner and up a ramp that led to another road of zoomers. This was good as they could lose themselves in a crowd but Lexi still had to zoom past other drivers just in case any police cruisers were still onto them. They were travelling at a speed that the their hair was flying behind them and was fast enough to give Daxter motion sickness.

Lexi abruptly turned another corner and down a ramp that led to an array of different buildings that were all located by a body of water that stretched out to the security walls. Once she was sure they weren't being followed, Lexi slowed down and parked the zoomer outside their destination. Instead of walking up to the entrance, Daxter ran up to the Port and vomited in the water. After a moment he walked back up to Lexi.

"Don't _ever_ drive like that again!"

"No promises.", she replied. Still feeling a little groggy, instead of jumping up to Jak's shoulder, he was perfectly fine slowly climbing up his body.

Inside the Saloon stood a towering man with dark skin clad in grey metal armour, holding a strange weapon by his side. He stood up tall with his arms crossed over his chest staring intently at the trio who walked in as if he was on guard and didn't like the look of them.

To their surprise, the trio saw the girl from the Underground, called Tess, behind the bar pouring drinks and cleaning the counter. They all shot her a questioning look, but when she caught their gaze, she stiffened and then quickly pulled her fingers across her lips. After a moment of confusion, they decided to humour her and get back to the task at hand.

"Don't worry guys, I got this." Jak rolled his eyes. Why didn't he ever take anything seriously? He walked between the large man's legs. He turned around to see a much larger man dressed in green on a hovercraft lower down to Jak and Lexi's level who now stood in front of him. Daxter's mouth dropped for a moment but then his chill persona was back. "You Krew? We've got your ore right here!"

The large man spoke in a cockney accent. "That's good 'ey, because a cargo of eco ore is worth more than you can ever imagine!" He looked at Jak and Lexi with a little too much interest. Daxter laughed nervously and hid behind Jak's shoulder. He stuttered, trying to find the right words to say to Krew but only came out with ramblings that made no sense even to Jak and Lexi. The man called Sig looked to Jak gave him a look that said 'Are serious about this guy?' and he responded with a look that said 'Just roll with it'.

However, Lexi was getting sick of the situation. This was going nowhere. "Ugh, look we brought you your cargo, so now you help us." She paused, ready to ask the all-important question. "Why is the Baron giving Eco to Metal Heads?!"

"In this city, you need to learn to ask the right questions!", Krew snapped back venomously. "Sig! Pay our little friends here." The monstrous man came over to Jak and Lexi and Jak raised his fists, expecting to engage in fisticuffs. Only for Sig to thrust the two of them each a gun. "I'm in the need for some… help. Do one or two jobs for me and I'll tell you what I know."

The two of them took the guns into their hands. Lexi felt like she was a child again, shooting bullets at old cans and bottles as target practice. It had been years but the feeling of a gun in her arms felt familiar to her again. To Jak, however, the introduction of a gun to his life felt… unnatural as he took it into his hands. Shooting bullets weren't the same as energy blasts. But they still got the job done, right?

Maybe it was his new dark side, his thirst for power and revenge or maybe a messed up combination of both, but Jak now welcomed the prospect of a power weapon in his possession with a devilish grin growing across his face.

Sig took another step towards him. As if it would do anything, Jak tried to stand taller to show he wasn't intimidated by him. But instead, the man smiled mischievously and spoke in a deep, gruff voice. "So, what do you guys say?"

Jak looked to Lexi and then the smirk on her face was only what he needed for an answer. "Let's do this."

* * *

 **What do guys think of the longer chapters? Good? Bad? I'd love to know! Next chapter is where things start to divert away from the main game (slightly) just to give this story a bit of a twist.**

 **XXX**


	7. Chapter 6

**Thanks to all the people who are reviewing, favouriting, following or even glancing at my fanfic. Hugs for all of you!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Sig was first properly acquainted with Jak, Lexi and Daxter before preparing to go out on missions with each other. He had briefly taken them to the gun course next door to teach them the basics of, what he liked to call, the 'Scatter Gun'. It only seemed to work well for short distance targets but had enough strength to take out enemies. It was quite small but was a distinctive ruby red which reminded Jak of the strength of Red Eco.

He also told them about the other type of guns they could get from doing various jobs for them. That offer was enough to sway Jak and Lexi towards agreeing. Journeying down some stairs outside the Port, a metal door slid open to reveal the entrance to the city's sewers. After they took the elevator down, Lexi immediately clamped her hands over her nose.

"Ugh! I'm actually beginning to rethink this decision."

If Jak was disgusted by the smell, he certainly didn't show it. "Come on, Lex. It could be worse."

She gagged. "Yeah. I could vomit."

Sig sighed and turned to face the trio (who had to literally look up at him). "Listen, cherries, if a little stench is too much for the Underground then maybe I should just take back the goods and send you packing."

Lexi clutched the gun like a child with it's favourite toy, as if she had already grown attached to the weapon of destruction. At least they had that in common.

They all stood in silence for a moment and when Sig was certain they weren't going to do anything, he approved with a silent nod and proceeded further into the sewers.

He continued the conversation as if there was no argument earlier. "These sewers are what Krew uses to smuggle his supplies to buyers and make deals with potential allies."

Daxter sniggered. "Until those late night snack runs made it hard to fit through the door."

Sig gave the ostle a threatening look. "Say that to his face, I dare ya. He may not be able to get around much, but don't let that fool ya. He's tougher than he looks."

Slightly intimidated by the larger man's armour and weaponry, Daxter repositioned himself on Jak's shoulder. "I'll, uh, keep that in mind."

"So what's the problem?", Jak asked, a little intrigued by the story behind the mission.

"Well, the sewers are now filled to the brim with both Metal Heads and security devices. I don't know about you, but that doesn't make for good business."

"So we just destroy the devices and kill the Metal Heads.", Lexi asked, even though the answer was staring them right in the face.

"Bingo!", Sig answered. His booming voice was enough for Lexi to flinch slightly and briefly place a hand over her ear. Jak chuckled at her reaction.

"Then let's get to it.", Jak said.

"That's the spirit, baby!", Sig exclaimed.

Turning on the sewer's lights, the area illuminated to reveal a swarm of copper-coloured lizard-like creatures. After several bullets, the creatures dropped to the ground and didn't get back up. Sig looked somewhat impressed. They turned a corner and saw one of the security turrets with lock-on-target shooting. Jak and Lexi were just barely managed to avoid its manic shooting, but Sig seemed to handle it with composure.

After doing a somersault, his weapon charged by with electricity and released the energy ball to blast the turret to pieces.

"Woah!", Daxter exclaimed. "What was that?!"

Sig presented his staff like a trophy. "This, my friend, is the Peacemaker. Fine one isn't it?"

Lexi took a step forward and examined it with child-like wonder. "It sure is." She looked up at him with a smirk. "Where'd you get it?"

He chuckled. "Don't ask."

They continued their trek towards the next turret and had to watch their step as that shimmied across the thin walkway. As they leaned on the wall, they realised it was some sort of gate. Jak's heart almost jumped out of his chest when a Metal Head burst from the gate and caused him to slip of the edge. Daxter clung tightly on his shoulder as Lexi quickly bent down to grab his hand and Sig butted his Peacemaker to the Metal Heads's chest, giving the group enough time to regain their footing and make their way to the other side.

Before the group rounded the corner, Jak poked his head around to see another turret. Wasting no time, he bolted towards it before it could sense his movements and destroyed it with his scatter gun. However, once the turret was gone, the sewers split into two different pathways and even Sig looked a little confused. Apparently, from this point on everything would be new terrain to him.

Lexi and Sig decided to go one way and Jak and Daxter agreed to go the other. The lights in the hallway were turned off but once Sig turned them on, a band of Metal Heads immediately began pouncing at them. He was fast but Lexi's reflexes were faster and eliminated every single one of them with combinations of gun and hand-to-hand combat. Within seconds, they were all dead and Sig was beginning to look genuinely impressed at her skills.

They heard several gunshots and Daxter's familiar yelp and the two of them backtracked to where he and Jak where. The remains of the turret where behind him but Daxter winced at a burn mark on his small arm. Lexi sighed and tossed him a Green Eco pack from her back and the burn was gone within seconds. The group gave each other a silent nod and heared more gunshots above them. Sig showed them a way to climb up the wall that led to another pathway. After taking care of a few more Metal Heads, they avoided the gunshots and Jak mustered enough energy to destroy the device in one punch.

Sig whistled. "I think that's all of them." He looked to Jak and Lexi. "Not bad, rookies. You might be just what we need."

"Glad to hear that.", Jak replied.

"You think we could do this full time.", Daxter asked.

Lexi shrugged. "I don't know. We still have the Underground to think about. The whole reason we're here is to take down the Baron."

That reminded Jak of the reason why they joined up with Krew in the first place. He walked up to Sig. "Speaking of which, do you know about the Baron trading with Metal Heads."

Sig chuckled and shook his head. "I don't ask questions. As long as I get paid it doesn't really matter to me." Jak balled up his fists. He was really losing patience with these people. He looked at Lexi, who gave him a look that said 'don't even think about it' and sighed in response. Looking back at Sig, he could see the man was on a communicator, presumably talking to Krew about the mission.

"I just hope we don't have to do this for much longer.", Jak said shaking his head.

"Something tells me that won't be the case.", Lexi replied, a little deadpan.

* * *

The group made their way back to the Saloon where Krew was waiting anxiously by the door. He perked up at the sight of Jak and Lexi. "Well done you two." He looked to Daxter and grumbled. "And your rodent, I suppose." Based on Daxter's infuriated reaction, he did not appreciate that remark.

He turned back to the duo. "Ever heard of 'wastelanders', hm?"

Jak looked to Daxter and they both shook their heads. "Not really."

"Wastelanders leave the city to search the desert for any valuable artefacts or weapons and bring them back to the city to sell.", Lexi said, sounding as if she knew quite a bit of the concept. "A friend of mine… well, his parents, did those sort of things from time to time."

Krew hovered forward in his chair. "Exactly."

Lexi crossed her arms. "Go on. What do you want us to do?" She rubbed her forehead as she felt a headache coming on. Maybe she pushed herself too hard in the sewers…

"One of my contacts who sneaks out of the city to find me some artefacts is now being followed by those pesky guards!", Krew informed. "I need you to get him to safety and take out any guards who may stop you."

The throbbing pain in Lexi's head was surfacing and couldn't push down her bubbling anger. "And why should we agree to this? What exactly have you offered us in return?", she spat.

Daxter narrowed his eyes at the large man. "She's right."

Understanding what she and Daxter were implying, Jak decided to back them up. "We're not doing anything until you tell why the Metal Heads are trading with the Baron.", he demanded. He wasn't really up to the 'hired gun' job, but he also had to think about the mission from the Underground to find out what the Baron was planning.

The group took a step back, half-expecting Krew to snap back at them for being disrespectful, but instead the man took a deep breath and grumbled. "Fair enough." He turned himself so that his back was facing them. "As it turns out, the Baron cut a… small deal with the Metal Head leader." Hearing Krew say that monster's name made Jak think back to his nightmare but soon repressed that memory. "The Baron supplies them with Eco and the Metal Heads agreed to attack the city so that the city views the lovely Baron as their protector."

Jak scoffed. "How long will _that_ last?"

"Here's a hint.", Krew continued. "The Baron is running short on eco."

That answer was definitely enough to worry Jak, Lexi and Daxter. They had seen what Metal Heads were capable of and the idea of a whole army of them attacking the city for Eco was something they didn't want to become a reality.

"You're telling me the _Baron_ made a deal with the _Metal Heads_ to actually attack his _own city_?!", Daxter said, clearly more than shocked.

Lexi rubbed her temples, trying to comprehend what she was hearing. "I honestly didn't think he could stoop that low. _Why_ is he stooping that low?!"

Krew looked her in the eyes. "Baron Praxis needs this war to keep in power. Otherwise, the city would put the true ruler on the throne, wherever that little brat is." He trailed off at that last part, _almost_ inaudible to the trio.

"And the guy isn't even the real leader?!", Daxter exclaimed. "He's really not making a good case for himself, I'm telling you."

Jak crossed his arms and sighed. Even though he was glad to finally get an answer to his queries, he definitely wasn't pleased by the answer. He knew issues involving both the Baron and the Metal Heads would only spell trouble for the city. Although he wasn't entirely sure how this would help the Underground _overthrow_ the Baron, it at least shed some light on what was going on in the shadows and allow them to work their way up from there.

Satisfied with the information he got, Jak nodded. "Fine. We'll take care of your contact."

"Good.", Krew replied. "I'll send you his location to your communicator. He'll tell you where to go." After the words left his mouth, he swerved around and paid no more attention to the people before him.

Once he was sure Krew wasn't looking, Daxter hopped up onto the bar and faced Tess. "Hey, aren't you with Undergr-"

The blonde quickly shushed him and her eyes darted in different directions just in case Krew or Sig were listening. They weren't.

She sighed in relief. "Yes. But it's complicated. Torn sent me here to spy on Krew just in case something held you guys up. Since I'm just the bartender, it'd give me the chance to overhear on potential secrets."

"Wow. That, uh, actually makes a lot of sense.", Daxter replied with a grin.

Tess twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "Found out anything of interest?"

Daxter shrugged. "I guess. We'll fill Torn in on the details."

"Good.", Tess said. "I'll be sure to let him know." She gave him a small smile and Daxter gave an even bigger grin. For several minutes, the two them continued talking. Even though Jak and Lexi couldn't hear the two them from across the room, they could definitely hear Tess' laughter after Daxter had supposedly told her a joke. Once they finished, Daxter journeyed back onto Jak's shoulder and Tess gave him a little wave before he left.

Lexi followed Jak out of the Saloon and saw Sig leaning by the door. "Got what you were looking for?"

"More or less.", she replied. "To be honest, it's just opening up more questions."

"Must be better than nothing though, right?", Sig shrugged.

"I guess.", she said.

After a moment of consideration, Sig asked, "You guys ever thought of being wastelanders?"

"Not really.", Jak said hesitantly. "We only just started this job and I don't think we know enough to do that sort of thing."

To the group's surprise, Sig gave them a small smile. "Don't say that. With the right training and skills, anyone can be a wastelander. Need any of those just come to me."

The group were a little shocked at the man suddenly opening up to them and Jak, as if reading both his friend's minds, gave him a grin back. "Thanks, we'll keep that in mind."

The silence between them indicated that the conversation was over so the trio wordlessly climbed in the zoomer, ready for the escort mission.

* * *

The group wasted no time climbing into the zoomer and dashing off who they were supposed to protect. Their location was apparently back in the slums where the guy was supposedly holed up in an abandoned building waiting for someone to come get him. They parked the vehicle a few blocks away in order to get a good scout of the area.

However, they had a pretty good idea of where their contact was based on the band of Krimzon Guards surrounding the building and trying to kick the front door in. The group had a plan: Lexi would distract and take out the guards whilst Jak and Daxter would get the guy out of there.

When the guards wouldn't move from the door, that gave Lexi more than enough reason to start pulling her punches. A number of the guards were armed with military rifles, prompting her to whip out her Scatter Gun and start gunning the remaining guards who stood in her way. Once the coast was clear, Jak and Daxter ran from their hiding spot and forcefully opened the door. They had to hurry as their actions would've caused a commotion and more guards would be sent to investigate soon.

Jak bolted up a flight of stairs only to see a young man around his age huddled in the corner. He had a small build and had blond hair with bright blue eyes. Jak put up his hands as a signal of peace when the man was pointing a gun at him.

"Are you with Krew?", he asked with a small voice.

"Yeah.", he confirmed. "We're here to get you out of here."

The man sighed in relief and rose to his feet. "Thank the Precusors! I thought I was done for." He looked at Jak from head to toe and then saw Daxter on his shoulder, giving him a small wave. "Although I didn't think you would be the sort of people Krew would send." He then shook his head and lowered his gun. "Nonetheless, I'm glad. Nice to meet you. My name's Kai."

"I'm Jak. And this is Daxter.", he replied, giving his left shoulder a small shrug to gesture to his friend.

"Krew said you knew where to go?", Daxter said.

Kai widened his eyes. "Oh yes of course!" He pulled out a communicator and fiddled around with it before stuffing it into a duffel bag that was by his side. "Take me to the water slums; I'll direct you there." He pulled up the hood of his black jacket and proceeded to follow his rescuers back down to the zoomer.

By the time they had gotten back outside, more guards were surrounding the area and Lexi had crashed the zoomer into them to pick up her friends whilst simultaneously knocking out their enemies. "Get in!"

The second Jak had slammed the door shut, Lexi gunned the vehicle, leaving a trail of dust behind her. Kai had leaned forward to give the girl directions and she silently complied when she turned a corner or took a new route.

After a few moments, they had shaken off the guards and reached the water slums within several minutes. Kai motioned for her to lower and park the zoomer by a small hut that would be his temporary hideout.

They all climbed out and Lexi let out a breath. "Woah! That was close."

Suddenly, something in Kai's mind clicked. Something about that girl's dark purple hair and those glowing amber eyes.

"No way.", he gasped. "Lexi?!" She gave the guy a confused look and he shoved off his black hoodie. "It's me, Kai!"

After a moment of confusion, her eyes widened. "Kai?!" She gave him a wide smile (that almost seemed alien to Jak and Daxter) and Kai drew her into his arms, almost lifting her into the air, as if he didn't believe this was real.

His nose crinkled. "Wow. You stink." He mentally slapped himself immediately after that. _Been several years since we last saw each other and_ that's _the first thing you say. Smooth._ , he thought to himself.

Lexi giggled. "Well, you'd be too if you spent your morning clearing out the sewers." Seeing the confusion on his face, she replied, "Krew."

"Wait." Jak shook his head. "You guys _know_ each other?"

The two of them chuckled as they broke apart, the smile still plastered on Lexi's face. "Me and Kai grew up together. He's the guy I said whose parents were wastelanders. I've known him for as long as I can remember." She looked him up and down. He still had the same blond hair and electric blue eyes she remembered when they were kids. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Same to you.", he replied. His eyes widened and he shook his head. "This is crazy! Where have you been? Why did you disappear?"

Right. She knew this would come up sooner or later. Even though the two of them had been close friends during their childhood, she was taken off the streets when she was about eleven years old and was subjected to the experiments for several years. But if she was being completely honest, the only thing that kept her from falling over the edge of sanity was the hope that she could meet up with her friend again.

She scratched the back of her head. "Uh, yeah. It's been a while." She looked to Jak, trying to gauge a response to see if he was comfortable talking about it. His expression was neutral. "Well, several years ago when I disappeared, I didn't really disappear. I guess you could call it kidnapped. Anyways, that Krimzon Guard, Erol, knocked me out and took me off the streets only to shove me in a cell." She looked up at her former friend and could see his eyes well up with tears. "The next morning, I woke up in a chair and the next thing I knew a device started injecting me with Dark Eco."

Kai cupped his mouth and tears began streaming down his fair-skinned face. Lexi continued. "And that was basically my life for the next few years. Just two years ago, they brought in my friend Jak. Only a few days ago did Daxter help break us out."

Daxter crossed his arms. "I would've been there a lot sooner if it weren't for those stupid Metal Bugs.", he grumbled.

"Bugs?", Jak repeated.

"Don't ask."

Kai wiped his eyes. "All this time… you were… experimented on. I can't believe it Lex. I don't know what to say."

"There's nothing to say.", she replied softly. "The important thing is we're out and will find a way to fix this."

"What do you mean?"

Lexi sighed and silently held up her arms. For a moment, nothing happened but suddenly the dark purple energy started dancing up her arms and ended halfway up. "As you can see, the Baron's experiments came with some… unwanted side effects."

Kai slowly gripped her wrists, trying to comprehend what was going on. "They did this to you?" He tried his best to choke back a sob. "Lex if I knew-"

She held up a hand to cut him off. "There's nothing you could've done."

"But we're gonna change that.", Jak said with confidence.

"What do you mean?", Kai asked.

"We joined up with the Underground in the fight against the Baron.", Daxter said.

"The Underground?!"

"If we dethrone the Baron then maybe we can save the city from the Metal Heads.", Lexi reasoned.

"And hopefully fix this whole Dark Eco thing.", Jak added, looking at his own hands.

That reminded Lexi of what she wanted to say and turned back to Kai. "Actually I was planning on seeking you out, since you might be able to help."

Kai tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Huh?"

"Growing up you always had the knowledge about Eco and how it was used in the past." Memories of a young Kai studying tattered, worn history books with awe filled her mind. Those were the sort of memories that would make the first few years of torture bearable.

This knowledge perplexed Jak and Daxter. They were surprised about all the similarities this world had with their home world: Precursors, Eco… being in a different world somehow made the concepts a little harder to understand.

"Oh yes!", Kai exclaimed as his memory clicked back into place. "How can I be of assistance?"

"For some reason Jak and I were resistant to the Dark Eco experiments compared to the other inmates. I was wondering if that could do with anything with the fact that Jak can actually channel Eco energy.", Lexi explain, her tone getting more and more serious.

Kai opened his mouth to respond but the police cruisers in the area caused him to flinch slightly. He gestured to his hideout. "Perhaps it would be better if we talked inside." Understanding the man's jitteriness, the trio followed the man into the gut. Their mission was complete so until either Torn or Krew called them up with another, they were free to do what they wanted. This would give them enough time to make sense of what was going on with them.

And what they had become.

* * *

 **As you can see, things are taking a different turn than they did in the game. This basically sums up the direction this fanfic will take: the missions will either be written in or missed out and I will be adding in my own characters and subplots (so that it doesn't feel like a _complete_ rewrite). Tell me what you think about it! I appreciate the feedback!**

 **Also, a little reference to the spin-off game _Daxter_ (a game which I don't own, in case I need to say that) for you fans.**

 **Happy reading!**

 **XXX**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

"Sorry about the mess.", Kai said as he invited the trio into his safehouse. "It's been a while since I was last here."

They didn't reply and instead just wordlessly sat down on the nearby couch. Kai frantically hurried over to the windows and pulled the curtains closed. Even though the guards weren't paying any attention to his hut, Kai didn't want to take any chances. He sat down from across Lexi and zipped his duffel bag open. Lexi simply stared at him as he dug around the bag. She couldn't believe that he childhood friend was sitting right by her and was afraid that, if she tore her gaze away from him, he would disappear.

Jak and Daxter sat there awkwardly. The whole situation felt a little uncomfortable to him and the fact that the Dark Eco in his veins was like a scratch he couldn't itch didn't help things. Seeing Lexi and Kai reunite the way they did made him think about…

 _Keira._

The last time he saw her was two years ago when they practically flew through the mysterious rift and they were all sent away in different directions. He always clung to the memories of her when he was imprisoned, but was always tortured by the memory of her cries when the rift separated them. It made him think about how she was doing, where she was, if she was even _alive_.

"Here it is!", Kai exclaimed, snapping Jak from his thoughts. The blond presented a large but old tattered book that looked like it had seen better days. He began flicking through the pages with nostalgia until he finally settled on a page. "Right, Eco. A powerful energy source with many uses created by the Precursors and mastered by a small group of humans known as Sages. It's now mainly used to power technology and weapons but there are some rare cases of people being able to channel and wield the stuff." He looked up from the book. "Of course, I haven't seen it first hand."

"Alright.", Lexi said. "So Jak says that back where he came from, he was able to channel Eco. Is it possible for that to be the reason why he can now channel Dark Eco witout dying?"

Kai brought a hand up to his chin. "Hm. It could be a possibility. I mean if you can channel one, why not all?"

"But what does that mean for Lex?", Daxter asked. His eyes widened and looked at Jak. Turns out the same thing hit them like a train.

"You don't think…", Jak trailed off. "That Lexi can channel Eco as well?"

" _What?!_ ", Lexi exclaimed. "How could that even be possible? I know nothing about it!"

Kai scratched the back of his head. "It's not really something someone would just know. Besides, Eco is scarce nowadays so there's less chance of having the chance to come into contact with it."

The girl's eyes travelled to her friend. "You seem to be taking this _extremely_ well!"

"Well, it makes sense.", he replied. "Why would they take you off the streets for the same reason as Jak? To be honest, it's a blessing that you're still alive."

Jak chuckled sarcastically and held up a balled up fist crackling with Eco. " _This_ is not a blessing." He felt his blood run cold but the sound of Daxter awkwardly clearing his throat brought him out of it.

"You know what I mean.", Kai said, slightly unfazed by Jak's outburst.

The current silence was now deafening.

"So.", Daxter interrupted. "What now?"

The blond man closed the book shut and sighed. "I don't know how much help I can do on my end. I don't think I can help fix this." He paused. "But I think I can help you control it." All he got were perplexed looks from Jak and Lexi and gestured for them to follow him out of the house. They walked along the wooden bridge that led to a much larger hut that didn't seem to house any residents.

Jak and Daxter gasped in unison when they saw yet another familiar thing. A large Precursor robot sat at the back of the room surrounded by numerous candles civilians had probably lit in memory of the Precursors. What was it called back in their home world? An Oracle!

A low, booming voice startled the group. "Greetings, warriors. I sense the Dark Eco inside you. Without the assistance of the Precursors, you have no hope of controlling these powers. Bring me the skull gems of our enemies, the Metal Heads, and I will help you."

Jak and Lexi looked at each other for a moment. She then dug around in her bag, revealing that she had been collecting the skull gems whenever they fought the Metal Heads. She looked to Kai and Daxter. "You might want to stand back." Kai hesitantly backed away to the threshold of the door. Daxter was a bit reluctant to leave his friend's side but a slow nod from Jak was enough confirmation for him.

Jak and Lexi walked up to the Oracle and handed it the skull gems like an offering. For a moment, nothing happened when all of a sudden Dark Eco came spewing out from the Oracle, hitting the duo square in the chest. The power was strong enough for them to hover slightly above the ground as an excruciating pain racked their bodies once again. Their forms shifted to their darker selves and a much lower inhuman voice came from them. Daxter flinched away in fear, but was convinced himself that _this wasn't Jak_. As much as he had changed in those two years, he was still guy he was friends with for all those years. No amount of Eco could ever change that.

However, Kai hadn't seen anything like this before. It twisted his insides into a mess seeing his best friend change like that but couldn't begin to imagine the pain and torture she had to go through for all those years. Even though her dark form had an alien and evil look about it, he could see the agony written on her face as she absorbed the dark energy.

The Dark Eco stopped injecting itself into Jak and Lexi and both dropped limp to the ground, their forms changing back to normal. Kai and Daxter rushed to their sides as the Oracle spoke again. "We are in your debt for your work against these monsters."

* * *

"I'm still surprised you're taking this a little too well.", Lexi said to Kai after they came to. "I would've expected a little bit of shock."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm shocked, Lex. I guess I'm… not that bothered. You're still Lexi, right?"

"Of course, but…"

The blond held up a hand to silence her. "No buts. We're still friends. No amount of Eco could ever change that."

Lexi was absolutely shell-shocked. She had forgotten how caring and understanding her friend was but felt like she was letting him down. No matter what anyone said, she wasn't the same person she was all those years ago.

Not knowing what to do, she hugged him tightly. After a moment of confusion he returned the hug. "Thank you. For all you've done."

Kai chuckled. "Thank you… for coming back." They broke apart and looked to the others. "Is there anything else I can do to help?"

Jak shook his head. "Nope. It was just our job to protect you."

The blond shrugged. "Okay. But if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"Will do.", Daxter replied.

Just as they were about to go their separate ways, Kai called out to them. They turned to see him rummaging around in his bag once again. "Consider this as payment for your services."

He then tossed Jak and Lexi each a gun that looked similar to the yellow gun he was carrying himself when he first met Jak. "Your guns are good, but it's no Blaster."

Once they were equipped with it, Jak could instantly see how it was more upgraded than the Scatter Gun. He took a stance to test its use and then looked to Daxter, who was also satisfied with the weapon upgrade.

Lexi inspected the gun and gawked. "Wow! You didn't have to!"

Kai shrugged. "Like I said: consider it payment."

The girl paused and then shifted her weight onto one foot. "Keep a low profile. And stay safe."

"Back at you."

She smirked. "Me? A low profile?"

He smiled back. "Right, forgot who I was talking about."

Jak and Daxter gave the man their thanks before climbing back into the zoomer and Lexi gave him a playful punch to the shoulder before climbing in as well.

Kai waved goodbye, but was still staring at where Lexi stood even after she was far from sight.

* * *

To their relief, Krew didn't have any jobs for the group for the time being, but was now called back by (the equally exhausting) Torn. They had informed him about what they'd found out about the Baron's deal with the Metal Heads. If he was bothered by the revelation, he did a good job of concealing it. He made a note to let the Shadow know and come up with a plan. The more he made mention of the leader, the less patience the group had with the Underground.

For the meantime, however, they had another mission. Torn stood around the table. "The Baron's mining operations is threatened by Metal Heads."

Jak scoffed. "So."

"Vin, who works there, is an informant of ours and he's trapped at the Strip Mine. Use the Warp Gate at the Power Station to find him."

Daxter got up in Torn's face. "Hey, Tattooed Wonder! What's with all the stupid missions you keep giving us?!"

"Because I'm in charge here." He shoved Daxter to the floor.

"That, uh, that seems fair.", he replied nervously whilst giving a thumbs up.

Lexi put her hands on her hips. "So we save this informant, kill the Metal Heads… then what?"

Jak narrowed his eyes. "Well, based on what Krew said, the Baron isn't even the true ruler of the city. I guess dethroning him with the heir should be a start."

Torn nodded. "Since the Baron is running out of Eco, we gotta get the kid in power before the city's gone for good.", he added, his tone still sombre.

* * *

"Okay.", said Daxter as the group stepped into the Power Station. "Precursors, Eco and now warp gates. What's the next thing to pop up? Lurkers?!"

"Alternate world or not, it's still a little weird.", Jak replied, taking in the room around him. The room was enormous but it only contained a large circular platform surrounded by railings and several high-tech computers spewing out nonsense none of them understood. A small walkway led to a human sized circular ring with Lexi assumed was the warp gate.

"So I've never used one of things before. Anything I need to know?"

Jak found the switch for the portal and turned it on. "Jump." The gate hummed to life and Lexi couldn't see the other side of the ring as it led to another location.

She rose an eyebrow. "Really? That's your advice?"

He smirked and repositioned himself behind her. He gripped her shoulders. "Yeah. Like this." And with that, he shoved her through the portal head first and she could almost hear him chuckle as she travelled through. Darkness consumed her for a second and when she opened her eyes again, it was obvious that she was now in a completely different place.

She then heard a _whoosh_ sound as Jak and Daxter emerged from the portal, laughing as Lexi rose her feet. She wasn't laughing. Not even a little.

"That wasn't funny."

Daxter failed to stifle a giggle. "From where I was standing it was."

With a smirk, Lexi marched on over to the ostle, paused for a moment, and then whacked him over the head.

Jak whistled. "Wow, Lex. Déjà vu much?" He then held his hands up in defeat when she threateningly raised her fist at him.

Once the joking was over, the trio began to explore the Strip Mine to find the informant called Vin.

Torn wasn't exaggerating about the number of Metal Heads in the area. To the group's relief, however, the ones they encountered were of a smaller variety and only came across a handful of the more monstrous ones. Jak and Daxter took out the smaller ones with with the Scatter Gun and punches respectively whilst Lexi dealt with the larger ones using the blaster.

Once they were all eradicated, the group could now see what was clearly some form of safehouse where they assumed Vin would be. With a punch of a red button outside, the metal doors slid open.

Before they could take a step closer, a man popped out and started shooting like crazy. "AGHH!"

The group immediately got the hell out of dodge. Daxter tried his best to scream over the gunshots. "Guys doing something!"

Jak raised his voice. "Hey! We were sent by Torn to help you!"

Unfortunately, the man wasn't having it. He jumped behind some crates.

Lexi peeked her head through the door. "Listen! If we were here to kill you, I don't think you'd be alive right now!"

After a moment, the man reluctantly popped out through the door. He was a fairly short man, with silver hair, goggles and wearing a white coat. "Help?" He heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness." He looked the group over. "Uh, where's the reinforcements?"

Daxter scratched the back of his ear. "Um… right here."

Vin's eyes widened in disbelief. "What? Just you three!"

Lexi waved her hand. "No offence but Daxter doesn't really count."

The man banged his head against the door. "What do they think I'm worth?"

Jak crossed his arms. "Look, if want you want to stay here and die, be my guest, but me and my friends are getting out of here."

The trio began casually making their way back to the warp gate, unlike Vin who kept his back to them and was frantically aiming his gun in all directions as he backed away. One by one they all jumped through, with Vin losing his footing and stumbling through the portal backwards.


	9. Chapter 8

***Emerges from shadows* IM ALIIIIIIIVE!**

 **I am so so sorry for the agonisingly long wait and want to give you all a massive thank you for being patient with this story. Things have been up in the air recently and studies and three ongoing fanfics is NOT a good combination. Hopefully, things can get back on track and I'll try to make sure the next update doesn't take so long.**

 ***sigh* With that out of the way…**

 **Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

"Hey, thanks for saving me back there, guys.", Vin said for the umpteenth time as he frantically typed away on a computer in the Power Station.

"No problem, although next time, can you refrain from shooting at us?", Daxter asked.

Vin laughed nervously. "Sorry, guys, just got a lot on my plate lately." He showed something on his computer. "Metal Heads have been attacking our mining operations and we're running out of eco! Eco helos keeps the shield walls up, and if the shield drops... you can guess what happens next."

"And I'm assuming you need us to do something about that.", Lexi said.

Vin nodded. "Metal Head eggs have been sucking away the power. Getting rid of them is crucial to keeping the walls up."

"You know what, Dax?", Jack said. "You're right, we always get the stupid missions."

* * *

The trio used the Warp Gate to the drill platform and could immediately see a band of Metal Heads surrounding what they assumed to be the large, green, sickly eggs.

Lexi gagged. "I don't even wanna know how those things reproduce."

"Thanks for the commentary, Lex.", Jak said, trying to figure out a way to the eggs.

"It's what I do."

"If you guys are done-", Daxter interrupted. "-I would like to get this over and done with so we can head back."

Jack gaped at the ottsel. "You? Of all people? Want to get the job done? Wow, things really have changed." His voice was laced with sarcasm, but there was a slight tinge of sincerity in his statement.

Daxter sighed. "Eh, that's two years for you." Jak opened his mouth to say something to his friend, but caught himself before he could. This wasn't the time for this sort of conversation.

"Yeah.", he replied. "So what's the plan?"

Lexi pulled out her beloved blaster gun. "Well, it's fair to say that these are probably not the only Metal Heads in the area."

"So once we charge in guns blazing, we're bound to attract attention.", Daxter added.

"Bingo.", she replied. "If we can take out the guarding Metal Heads, I can cover you guys whilst you destroy the eggs."

"And why are we the ones destroying the eggs?", Jack asked, clearly annoyed with the plan.

Lexi snickered and shook her head. "Yeah, I'm not touching those things."

"And you think we want to?", Daxter exclaimed.

"Relax.", she replied breezily. "If anything goes south, I'll just turn on the crazy to save your asses."

Jak didn't have to ask her what she meant by that, so instead he asked, "And how will you 'turn it off', exactly?"

Not paying attention to the question p, Lexi jumped out from their hiding spot pounce onto the Metal Heads and shooting several in the chests, picking up the skull gems their bodies left behind. Jack sighed and reluctantly followed suit.

Once all the guarding Metal Heads were gone, several other small groups of monsters came out from hiding and began to pounce. Lexi jumped kicked off of the first one and spun around in the air whilst letting out several shots from her Blaster gun, successfully taking them out. She landed on another Metal Head and took it out with a few punches.

When it seemed like one was going to get the drop on Jack, who was swiftly destroying the eggs, she quickly rushed over to get rid of it. She called out to the duo to watch out and Daxter acted on instinct and jumped off of Jak's shoulder to kick the Metal Head. With the creature stunned, Lexi took the opportunity to take it with a few kicks and punches.

All of a sudden, Lexi's vision faded in and out and swayed on her feet, putting a hand to her head. A slight ringing began to grow in her ears, but did her best to push it down. Was the Dark Eco taking over again? That would've been her first assumption, but this didn't feel like the others times she had used it. This felt different… why was she suddenly so exhausted?

"Thanks, Dax.", Lexi breathed out, strangely beginning to feel a little worn out.

"No problem.", the ostle replied. He turned back to Jak, who was almost done with the mission. Lexi turned back around when she heard a low ground from behind the group. One lone Metal Head left. Alright. Should be easy.

However, the gun fumbled in her grip and soon clattered to the ground. The ringing in her mind got even higher and higher and didn't have enough time to react when the Metal Head tackled her to the ground and weighed her down by standing on her chest.

"LEX!", Jak and Daxter exclaimed simultaneously. Lexi was vaguely aware of Jak kicking and shooting the creature off of her or its blood splattering onto her face. Two concerned faces entered her field of vision but their words fell on deaf ears as darkness consumed.

It was as if something was pulling her down and she didn't have the strength to fight back.

* * *

 _When Lexi opened her eyes again, she realised that she was floating in a dark void. A vague memory surfaced as she remembered a dream like this one but it was too blurry to recall. All she could remember from that first night in the Underground was this terrifying monster and a blinding bright light._

 _"You are remembering well, warrior.", a voice from behind her said. She whipped around and immediately regretted it as the same glow from before caused her shield her eyes._

 _"What the…?", she winced. "You can read my thoughts?"_

 _She could hear a slight chuckle from the voice. "To be fair, this is your mind."_

 _There were so many questions this whole situation created but Lexi didn't have the time to ask. She just wanted to know what was going on._

 _"Why am I here?" Her mind wandered back to before she passed out, where she felt a strong force pull her towards unconsciousness. "Did you bring me here?_

 _"I apologise for any inconvenience that caused you."_

 _"Apologies aside, what do you want with me?"_

 _The voice fell silent for a moment before answering. "We are concerned with the influence that both you and the Dark Eco are having on the boy."_

 _Lexi's eyes snapped around the landscape surrounding her, trying to find the source of the voice, but to no avail. "Wha-Jak? What's he got to do with this?"_

 _"The boy has a greater role in this more than anyone could know. If he is to help save the city from the Metal Heads, he mustn't fall into darkness and the only way that would happen if the Dark Eco, or the people who use it, corrupts him."_

 _She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to appear confident, but was scared to see where this was going. "So, what, you're worried my power over Dark Eco will mislead Jak?"_

 _It's silence was enough of an answer for her._

 _"That's not even what I want!", she exclaimed, throwing her arms down. "I want this thing gone just as much as he does!"_

 _"That may be. You may not want either of you to be consumed by the Dark Eco, but you are still a risk in the grand scheme of things."_

 _She sighed, tired of the voice not getting to the point. "Okay, so what am I supposed to do about it? We're getting help from that Precursor thing back in the Water Slums. Shouldn't that help control the situation?"_

 _"Even that alone may not be enough. You must also learn to control it you're yourself and to not use it on a whim. Too much can be dangerous if you don't have a strong grip on it."_

 _"And if I am careful about it… then can we fix this?"_

 _"That future remains up to the two of you."_

* * *

After Jak had helped Lexi with that last Metal Head at the Drill Platform, the girl had remained passed out despite having no notable injuries on her head or body. Despite their attempts to rouse her, she still didn't budge. Before anymore Metal Heads could turn up, Jak slung Lexi over his shoulder and the group fled through the Warp Gate and back to the Undergroud base. Vin called Torn later, who reassured Jak and Daxter that the Metal Head eggs were successfully were eliminated, meaning that the city would have more of a supply of Eco than what they would've had.

However, that was the least of Jak and Daxter's problems at that moment, since it had been two hours since they came back and Lexi still didn't stir. Torn told them that he was still waiting to hear from another contact and should rest up until he did. Jak was a bit reluctant at first, but Daxter pointed that 'Lexi was getting some shuteye so they might as well too'.

When Jak fell asleep, he was immediately welcomed to the sound of screaming. No, not screaming. Growling. It was only a month after Jak had been taken prisoner by Baron Praxis and whenever he was taken for his lethal dose of Dark Eco, he was always met by the gleeful glares and sneers of both the Baron and Erol. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep his strength up and prevent the tragic tears stream down his face.

However, Lexi was different. She would always scream out during her injections and they eventually transition into growls and hisses when she was done. Jak was almost frightened to share a cell with her. Until, of course, the same thing began to happen to him. After six months, he had become just as numb to the injections, but nothimh actually happened to him. He was expecting it to, though. It was like an itching that he was waiting to scratch. That had been the basis for their friendship. As sad as it was, if they were going to die there, they would experience it together.

He shot upright in his bed, sweat beading down his face and tried to get his breathing in check. He then turned to see Daxter lying beside him, looking concerned.

"You okay buddy?", he asked softly, just it case Lexi was still out cold.

Suddenly, an image of Daxter's scared expression from when he was close to ripping him to shreds out of blind rage. He visibly winced, but managed to shake it off. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Daxter raised an eyebrow. "Really? 'Cause you don't look it.", he replied, looking him over. Jak then realised that he was shaking all over. He grabbed his wrist to try and ease the tremors but to no avail.

"Bad dream?", the ostle asked.

"Yeah. It was about… you know. But it's nothing new, really."

Daxter folded his paws in his lap. "That's gotta be tough, going through that sort of thing."

Jak shrugged. "I can't imagine what it was like for you out there. At least I had Lex, you were on your own."

Daxter scratched the back of his neck. "I thought I had it hard, but after I saw what happened to you guys, I definitely had easier than you."

After a moment of silence, Jak cracked a wry smile. "Well, we're back together again, that's the important thing."

The ostle mirrored his expression. "You got that right, buddy!" He crawled back up to his shoulder when Jak extended out his arm. "And we'll make sure that Baron Praxis guy pay!"

From the bunk beneath them, they could hear someone doing fake retching noise. Lexi's quip would've sounded snarky if her voice wasn't so hoarse. Jak jumped down from the bunk bed, with Daxter in tow, to see the girl reaching for glass of water at her side.

"Have a nice nap, princess?", Daxter asked smugly.

"Eh, I didn't have to walk back, so I guess I'd call that a victory."

Jak crossed his arms. "So why did you pass out like that? It's never happened before."

Lexi was about to say that she couldn't remember when all of a sudden she recalled the sound of a bodiless voice talking to her. She was about to open to respond when Torn barged in and looked to Lexi.

"Good to see you're not dead.", he said.

Jak leaned in to whisper in her ear, "I think that's his way of saying he's glad you're okay.", earning a giggle from her.

Torn rolled his eyes. "Quips and jokes aside, it's time for your next job."

Jak was about to voice his concerns when Lexi grabbed his arm and stood up. "Don't worry. Just the Eco going to my head. I'm fine."

And with that, she walked out the room even before Torn, who followed suit. Jak watched them go as Daxter jumped off his shoulder, complaining about 'Tattooed Wonder' and 'his attitude' but he wasn't really listening.

Because he could tell when Lexi was lying.


	10. Chapter 9

**So updates have been inconsistent lately, but now that my studies are almost over, hopefully things can pick up the pace. Huge thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story! Believe me, I have every intention to finish this story!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

After a night of well-earned rest, Torn called them back into the meeting room to give them the run down of their next mission. The light above them swung back and forth and Daxter, who was a little bored of the briefing, made goofy faces whenever the light illuminated his face.

Torn began his briefing. "I have this friend in the Guard who was sent on patrol at the Pumping Station but now she's run into some trouble."

The tattooed man noted Daxter's faces but then snapped his head to Jak. "Don't even think about it." He was now getting tired of Daxter's antics. He slammed his hands on the table and got close in the ostle's face. "Will you stop that?!"

Jak rolled his eyes whilst Lexi nonchalantly held up her fist. "Can I?", she asked.

"No.", he snapped and Lexi pouted like a scolded child. Torn sighed at their antics. He was really losing his patience with these guys.

Daxter scoffed. "In all seriousness, why should we trust this 'comrade' of yours?"

Torn's hands gripped the edge of the table tightly. "She's helped the Underground for years now. That's definitely gotta count for something. If she's in trouble, the least you guys can do is see if she's okay."

Jak smirked and crossed his arms. "And why won't you go do it yourself?", he asked teasingly, seeing the annoyance play on Torn's face.

He grimaced. "Because there are other jobs to do and someone has to sort them out." Torn could see that the others weren't entirely. "Now get out of here and do your job."

Daxter blew a raspberry at the man, only for Jak to roughly drag him off the table and onto their mission.

* * *

Once they had reached the Pumping Station, they had already fought at least three waves of Metal Heads and Daxter wasn't, unsurprisingly, happy about all they had been doing. Lexi, who was ahead of Jak and Daxter, told them that their contact was probably around since a cruiser was nearby.

Daxter groaned and jumped off of Jack's shoulder. "Why did we always agree to risking our lives to save a bunch of strangers?!"

Jak rolled his eyes. "Look, would you rather get this over with or hear Torn whine in our ears more?"

Daxter paused and frowened for a moment. "Thinking about it."

All of a sudden, a woman with fiery red hair and tattoos across her face jumped out, wrapping an arm around Jak's chest and held a gun to his neck. Lexi immediately held up her blaster in response. "Who are you three?", she demanded.

"Wow! Foxy one, aren't you!?", Daxter said teasingly.

Lexi growled. "Really not the time, Dax!"

Jak, who was a little concerned about the gun pressed up against him, nodded once. "Yeah, now might be the time to keep quiet."

The woman released Jak from her iron grip and lazily pointed the gun at Daxter, prompting to jump back onto Jak's shoulder and hide out of sight. "Take their advice, hot shot."

Jak held up his hands up. "We're with the Underground. Torn asked us to help you."

The red head looked behind the trio and smirked. "I don't need help. But you might; we've got company."

The three of them followed her gaze to see a horde of Metal Heads heading their way. Jak and Lexi readied their guns and Daxter fisted his paws, prepared for any surprise attacks. The woman behind them pulled out a pistol and immediately jumped into the fight shooting several shots and several Metals Heads and backflipped when one tried to pounce at her.

Jak was dumbfounded at her skill but was soon snapped out his thoughts when one creature made a move. It only took a couple of shots to take it down and when one fell, another immediately took its place and Jak naturally continued to shoot.

Lexi gracefully dodged several Metal Heads trying to attack her all at once. She whipped around to see the red-haired woman too distracted trying to shoot down two Metal Heads to see two more about to take her down. Instincts kicking in, she shot them down just as they were within inches of reaching her. The woman turned around, a little surprised, but was soon enticed back into the battle.

You're welcome., Lexi thought. However, her thoughts were cut off by a Metal Head tackling her to the ground and its leg pressed down on her chest, keeping a pinned to the ground. It bared its teeth and snarled in her face just as it was about to rip her to shreds. Jak heard her struggles and readied his blaster so that he could defend his friend.

As he was shooting, Daxter tactically jumped from Jak's shoulder to hit the Metal Head, distracting it long enough for Jak to finish it off and for Lexi to shoot down the remaining ones.

The stranger looked on, mildly impressed.

Once all of the Metal Heads were eliminated, the woman holstered her gun. "Nice job."

Jak let out an exhale, relieved that the battle was over. "Thanks.", he replied, still catching his breath.

The woman nodded and approached the trio. "So, you guys are the new recruits Torn talked about."

"All good things, I hope.", Lexi said.

"Eh, you don't wanna know."

Daxter put a hand over his heart. "Wow, Torn. I'm hurt.", he said dramatically.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Anyways, name's Ashelin."

"Jak."

"Lexi."

The second the words left their mouths, Daxter jumped up to Jak's shoulder. "You can call me 'Orange Lightning'!", he said, trying to sound smooth.

Ashelin looked to Jak and Lexi. "Is he serious?"

"Daxter.", Jak said, sighing and putting a hand to his head. "His name is Daxter." Both Lexi and Ashelin could've laughed when Daxter mouthed 'traitor' to his friend. But with the situation at hand, they didn't have much time for jokes.

"So Torn said you were running into some trouble.", Jak said.

Ashelin started towards her cruiser. "Torn sometimes likes to exaggerate things. But seriously, the hordes of Metal Head numbers outside the city have been growing in numbers and it doesn't help that Baron Praxis keeps on sending us out on suicide missions.", she spat.

"Suicide missions for what?", Lexi asked curiously.

Ashelin waved the trio over to a small stand that a strange symbol engraved in it at the top. "This is the Seal of the House of Mar." She was met with puzzling looks. "The Founder of Haven City." Ashelin was speaking as if this was common knowledge. She sighed and waved them off. "Anyways, these missions are for us to locate artefacts from the time of his rule."

Lexi inspected the seal and narrowed her eyes. "What do you think Baron Praxis is planning?"

"Hard to tell.", Ashelin replied, shaking her head.

Daxter crossed his arms. "Well, whatever it is, it sounds pretty big."

Jak looked to Ashelin. "Anything that we can look into for the Underground?", he asked as Ashelin climbed into her cruiser and started up the engine. Pressing some buttons, she moved some things around in her pockets. "If you're curious, the soothsayer at the Bazaar, named Onin, may be able to help you."

Lexi pouted. "Why aren't all Krimzon Guards this generous?", she asked pointing a thumb at Ashelin.

Said Guard rolled her eyes. "Now we're even." And with that, she zoomed off into the distance.

In all seriousness, Lexi didn't know what to make of the Seal. At first she didn't think anything of it, but realised that anything involving Baron Praxis wouldn't be good news. It wouldn't hurt to see what was so interesting about it to him.

Daxter shook his head in disbelief. "Great woman, isn't she?!"

Jak smirked and the ostle held his paws up. "Forget it, buddy, my heart belongs to one girl.", he said dreamily.

"Tess?", Lexi asked. She snorted. "Sure.

"It could happen.", Daxter said, going on the defence.

Jak quickly joined in on the quip. "Emphasis on the 'could'."

Daxter rolled his eyes. "So the bazaar?", he asked, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible.

"Well, it's definitely worth getting an idea about what Praxis is planning.", Jak said. "If we can disrupt that, I doubt the Baron would be happy.", he said with a smirk.

"So we send him a message?", Lexi asked.

"Isn't that what we've been trying to do anyways?!", Daxter said throwing his paws up in the air.

Jak nodded. "Yeah, but this might be the only real lead we've gotten so far. Might as well take advantage of that."

Daxter jumped up to his friend's shoulder. "What do ya say, Lexi?"

Lexi bounce on her heels for a short moment. "Only if I drive."

* * *

 **Next time, we meet some new faces! ;)**


	11. Chapter 10

**Giving you guys a longer chapter this time as this one covers quite a bit of ground. Another huge thanks for being so patient with this story and hope you're all still enjoying it! Summer's rolling around very soon so hopefully I can get more writing time!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

As flippant as Lexi's request was, Jak and Daxter reluctantly agreed to let her drive the zoomer into the Bazaar. Daxter held onto his companion's shoulder for dear life, expecting Lexi to explode the vehicle the minute she tried to round a corner.

However, she seemed surprisingly careful with her turnings and was driving at a reasonable speed. Ever since her strange vision the night before, she took what was said to heart and strived to be a tad more responsible than usual, lest she wanted to pass out out of nowhere again. It was all too much to take in for the last few days; she had barely understood whatever that thing or person said to her but she had to do her to figure it out for herself. Maybe do her own digging around.

That's why she was interested in finding out about this 'Mar' guy.

"So what are we exactly hoping to find when talking to this soothsayer?", Jak asked, not so convinced about what they were doing.

Lexi sighed. "I honestly don't know, but whatever the Baron is interested in is certainly worth looking into."

"Gotta agree with her there, Jak.", Daxter added.

Jak groaned, frustrated at how, after everything they'd been doing, they weren't getting any closer to Baron Praxis. "Fine, but I'm gonna be mad if this is a waste of time."

"Don't be so glum, buddy.", Daxter said. "Got a good feeling about this one."

"Never though I'd say this, but listen to the rodent, Jak.", Lexi pouted, her voice laced with intentional mockery. Daxter was about to let out a retort when Lexi abruptly stopped the zoomer causing Daxter to fly from Jak's shoulder. "Sorry, were you gonna say something, Dax."

Daxter brushed himself off and growled at Lexi. The girl mischievously stuck her tongue out at him and Jak could only chuckle and shake his head. His laughter grew for a moment when Daxter turned to give him what assumed to be an attempt at a deathglare.

Stopping outside a tattered tent in the middle of the bazaar, the other two unmounted the zoomed and Daxter jumped back up to Jak's shoulder as they entered the makeshift shop. There were various pots and boxes scattered all over the room and in the middle was an old woman, who they assumed to be Onin, with what resembled a bowl on her head. Hanging upside down with its eyes closed at the entrance of the tent was a blue, yellow and red bird-monkey.

Daxter snorted. "You know, I thought the stuff here would be less tacky."

Lexi was about to respond when the bird sprang to life. "Hey! I've been called a lot of things! 'Tacky' is not one of them!"

He flew ceremoniously and landed on the woman's head and bowed deeply. "I am Pecker, Onin's interpreter." The old woman clapped her hands together and then began moving them around in circular patterns, a blue aura following them as she moved. "She says it's a pleasure to see you all again."

Jak' eyebrows furrowed and looked between his two friends, who looked incredulously at him. "But… we've never met before.", he said nervously.

Pecker waved one of his wings flippantly. "Don't shoot the messenger."

Onin summoned the blue aura once again that took a circular shape exactly like the symbol that Ashelin showed them. "You would like to find out about the Tomb of Mar"

"Apparently.", Daxter said tiredly.

"So what's the deal about it?", Jak asked, getting straight to the point.

"And it would help not leave out any details.", Lexi added matter-of-factly.

Pecker groaned exaggeratedly. "Fine. The tomb contains the fabled Precursor Stone that is said to contain vast Eco energies is general gist of it. If you want the whole story, we'll be here all day and night!"

Lexi looked to the side, eyes darting back and forth. "Vast Eco energies?", she repeated. She hummed. "If what Krew says about the Baron running low on Eco, it would make sense that he would be after what would be considered an infinite energy source."

"However, the prophecies say that only the true heir of Mar can open the tomb.", Pecker added.

Daxter narrowed his eyes at the bird-monkey. "Any idea who that might be?"

Pecker looked down to Onin before shrugging. "We're still working on that one."

Jak huffed. "So, basically, we're chasing a lost cause?"

"I don't think so, Jak.", Lexi replied. "Even if we can't enter this tomb, the least we can do is secure its location before the Baron can find it for himself."

"Or…", Jak drawled out. "We can do something a little more worthwhile and head on and attack the Baron's operations."

A cold air hung between the duo as their ideas soon began to clash and the two of them looked to Daxter for confirmation. The ostle waved his paws around. "Woah, woah, don't look at me! I can't decide where we take our whole little adventure! That's way too much responsibility."

Lexi groaned and threw her arms up in the air. "Let's look at things this way: when it comes to attacking the Baron, both we and the Underground haven't succeeded in getting close to him. However, we can at least figure out how to reach the tomb until we can find this 'true heir'."

"You realise this whole mystical quest will be just as, if not more, hard than a fight to free the city?", Jak asked, raising his eyebrow, his tone leaning towards annoyed.

"Can't we just agree to disagree?", Lexi replied, shrugging her shoulders with a sly grin.

The sound of a throat clearing broke their conversation and the trio turned to see Pecker, who was slowly losing his patience. "Onin says if you are interested in finding the tomb, you must find three artefacts from the Precursor Mountain Temple."

"You sure know your stuff.", Daxter said suspiciously.

Pecker scoffed. " _She's_ the soothsayer, _I'm_ just the interpreter." He regained his resolve and looked between Jak and Lexi. Onin's hand patterns faltered for a moment before picking up the pace before slowly stopping. "She says be careful, Jak and Lexi. You never know when the darkness might become too much."

Jak and Lexi looked between each other in shock. The man stuttered slightly. "H-how…?"

Pecker held up a wing. "Soothsayer."

"He's right, buddy.", Daxter added. "Don't try to think about it too much."

Lexi wasn't listening to their exchange as Onin was staring straight at her. The older woman's deadpan expression softened slightly when their eyes met as if pitying her. Lexi was a little uneasy since she was getting the feeling that the soothsayer was doing some sort of reading on her. She waited for Pecker to say something to her, but Onin's face returned to its emotionless expression.

"Thanks.", she answered for them.

"So… where exactly do we go from here?", Daxter asked as they exited the tent.

"Well, Lexi thinks it's a good idea to go chasing after a tomb that's who knows where and the only way to find it is by recovering three artefacts that are, you guessed it, who knows where.", Jak griped condescendingly.

Said girl was mildly fazed by his sarcasm. "Uh huh. And how close are we to taking down Praxis?" Jak grunted in response. "No offence to the Underground, but not that close." Jak was about to retaliate but Lexi continued. "Until we have a sure fire way to get close to the Baron, this is the first solid lead we've had since, I don't know, _forever_."

"You done?", Jak asked flippantly. Lexi huffed. "So how do you want to do this?"

"I want to find the artefacts and I want Kai to come with us.", Lexi replied instantly, not missing a beat.

Daxter raised his eyebrows. "Why do you want to involve your boyfriend all of a sudden?"

"He's not my boyfriend.", Lexi scoffed. "The point is that he knows a lot about Eco. Maybe he can give us some insight about the Precursors and this Stone."

"Okay, why the sudden interest in the Precursors all of a sudden?", Jak asked suspiciously. "And don't just say it's because of the mission. You're never this invested in a job."

Lexi opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it before the two before her could see her movement. What was she supposed to say? That these mysterious beings were worried about her misleading Jak down the wrong path? She couldn't begin to think what he would say in response. She decided that she could get a little more insight on the Precursors and their artefacts and figure out what was going on with her and get the full story before mentioning it to Jak.

She shrugged carelessly, trying to appear as laid back as possible. "It's a magic stone that's connected to the creators of our very world. Of course I'm interested."

"Eh, fair enough.", Daxter replied, although the doubtful look of Jak's face meant that he wasn't fully sold.

"Fine.", he said. "You and Kai can look into the Stone and Dax and I can find something to get close to the Baron."

"Not a bad plan.", Lexi said. "We're killing two birds with one stone here."

Jak scrunched up his face. "Is that the right saying? I swear that not the right context to say it."

Daxter and Lexi both looked at him incredulously. "We're getting away from the point.", Lexi sighed as she walked over to the cruiser.

Jak and Daxter looked at her as she started the vehicle. "How did you up with her for two years?", the ostle whispered not so subtly.

The man shrugged. "There comes a point where you just become numb to it."

* * *

Lexi had parked her zoomer by the Water Slums and could vaguely recall where Kai was staying. She exited the vehicle and Jak was already moving into the driver's seat and Lexi gaped at him. "Aren't you coming?"

Jak narrowed his eyes. "Why? We're not coming with you guys."

She sighed. "You can at least be polite and say hi."

Daxter jumped out of the zoomer. "Translation: she doesn't want to go alone when she sees him again."

"Honestly, I'm done trying to brush your comments off.", Lexi groaned as she walked down the wooden bridge. Once they reached Kai's safe house, Lexi slowly raised a fist to knock on the door when she saw Jak and Daxter smirking at her in the corner of her eye. "Not my boyfriend.", she reiterated.

"Sure.", Jak replied condescendingly. Lexi momentarily stopped reaching out to the door and instead began repeatedly punching Jak on the arm. The man yelped out in surprise and, what he didn't want to admit, pain. He began to squirm and attempted to dodge her attacks but she wasn't budging so he settled on grabbing her rapidly punching fist and directed it towards the door. She ripped away from his grip and glared at him annoyingly. "Don't take too long next time." She gave him one more punch before the door opened.

Kai reluctantly cracked the door open and his sky blue eyes caught Lexi's chocolate brown ones. Once he recognised her, he slammed the door open. "Lex! What are you guys doing here?", he asked when he momentarily forgot there were other people here as well.

"Well…", Lexi began. "I'm here to ask for your help on Eco and the Precursors."

"We're only here because Lex was driving.", Daxter added.

"Uh…?", Kai replied, not fully understanding the context of the situation.

Jak took the initiative to step in and take control of the conversation. "What Daxter meant to say was that we have some of our own stuff to do, whilst you guys look into… uh…" He paused for a moment. "You know what? Why don't I let Lex fill you in on the details?" Jak wrapped an arm around Lexi's shoulders before lightly pushing her towards Kai. They could all practically hear Lexi blush.

Daxter clapped his paws together. "Well! We'll leave the two of you to it and meet up with you guys later."

Jak was about to walk away when a thought hit him. "Oh!" He held out his hand out at Lexi. "Keys."

"What? Why do you guys get the zoomer", Lexi said annoyed.

The man titled his head to the side. "We're kinda shirt for time here, Lex. And I'm assuming you guys aren't hitting the road right now." Lexi looked down to the ground and shifted her weight onto one floor. "You'll figure something out."

Lexi groaned and slammed the keys into Jak's open palm, the man wincing slightly at her force. He waved to her and Kai and began jogging back to the zoomer. "Catch you guys later!"

"Don't miss us too much!", Daxter yelled out as they got further away.

"I won't!", Lexi called back with a grin.

She turned back to Kai who had an amused look on his face. "They're, um… interesting."

"They're idiots.", she said in a deadpan voice.

"The good kind?", Kai asked, lightly poking her in the side to try and get her to giggle. Lexi playfully pushed him away.

"Okay, dork. Let's talk." The two of them reentered the house ends Kai looked side to side suspiciously before closing the door.

To Lexi's surprise, Kai had organised his belongings in the safe house since the place far more tidier than when she first saw it. The books on the shelves were neatly stacked up on the shelves and pieces of paper were either filed away or thrown away. Kai would've looked like a normal guy if there wasn't a gun casually lying on the sofa.

"So…", Kai started awkwardly. "How have you been?"

Lexi shrugged. "As good as things can be right now."

"Right."

"Yeah."

The two of them stood in uncomfortable silence for several moments before Kai wordlessly gestured for Lexi to have a seat and she silently thanked him. The silence between them continued and Kai somewhat gestured to the makeshift kitchen.

"Uh, you want some tea or something?", he visibly cringed at his attempts at conversation.

"No, thanks.", she said giving a weak smile, but lowering her head so that her hair was hiding her face. "I just need to talk to you about something important."

Kai immediately threw his awkward small talk out of the window and sat down so that he was sitting next to Lexi. His face turned from soft to serious when he heard the no-nonsense tone in her voice. "What's up?"

Lexi closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before collecting herself and getting down to business. "The Underground gave us a new lead to look into and it's about something called the 'Precursor Stone'." She caught Kai's eyes momentarily widen at what she said. "I'm assuming you know what I'm talking about."

"The Stone…", Kai stuttered out. "It exists?"

"Apparently."

Kai let out a breath, trying to process the revelation. "I thought it was just a myth." He looked to Lexi. "Do you realise how big this is?"

"Well, I don't know much about it, but based on what I've heard, it's definitely a doozy." She leaned an elbow on her leg and rested her head on that hand. "And since the Baron had probably got something planned on it, you can imagine we want to get to it as soon as possible."

She heard a sigh from next to her. "I can imagine." Lexi looked up at him with the inquisitive eyes he knew so well. "The Stone is said to have power beyond even our understanding. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if the Baron of all people got his hands on it."

Lexi smirked. "And that's where we come in." Kai raised his eyebrows in confusion. "We were told we have to find three artefacts in some mountain temple. Do you know anything about those?"

Kai sat in thought for moment before snapping his fingers, supposedly coming to a conclusion and swiftly crossed over to the other side of the room, rummaging through some books before finally settling on what Lexi assumed to be a history book. He flipped through various pages and skimmed down the one he stopped on. He tapped his finger on where he stopped, approaching Lexi to show her what he found.

On the page where three pictures with text underneath them. The first one was a copper triangular gear, the second was a glowing jagged blue crystal and the final one was a thick oval-shaped object that looked like it was entirely made of glass.

"I'm assuming these are the artefacts?", Lexi asked, lightly grabbing the book so that she could get a better look.

"Bingo.", Kai replied. "There's mostly information on what they are and where to find them, but for some reason there's nothing on what they do." He cupped his chin and hummed. "I've theorised that they have something to do with the location of the tomb it resides in."

"If it's you theorising that, then it's probably right.", Lexi said confidently. Kai chuckled nervously and practically hid his face behind the book. Which Lexi shoved down. "I'm serious! When we were kids no one knew much about Eco and the Precursors more than you did. Even the adults were shocked at how much you knew." The way they were talking brought back childhood memories for Lexi.

Growing up, Lexi didn't bond well with other children she met on the street. She had come from a less privileged background and as a result was treated like she was lower than others. However, Kai wasn't like that. He was also viewed as an outsider, but for different reasons, since was more interested in reading about the history of the world than playing with the others. Lexi approached him one day with genuine interest in what he was reading, fully educated in the knowledge of the Precursors, and Kai was more than happy to explain it to her. After that, the two children met up regularly in the same spot where they met to talk about what they learnt and a friendship soon blossomed from there.

A friendship that was later destroyed by the cruel people who ruled the city. Lexi knew she could never make up for the time they had lost but also knew that given what had happened, Kai was never the type of person who would hold that against her.

Kai blushed. "Thanks, Lex. I just hope what I know can be of some use to you."

Lexi gently wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Even if it wasn't, I wouldn't regret this moment with you."

He returned the gesture and hugged his friend, carefully drawing her into his arms. Once again they sat in silence, merely savouring the time they were spending with each other after all these years. Kai didn't even shun her when he found out about what the experiments did to her and instead viewed her as the innocent girl he always knew.

I don't deserve a friend like you., she thought.

Before she could let her emotions get the better of her, Lexi pulled away and stood up from her seat, clapping her hands together. "So, you ready to hunt down some artefacts?"

Kai shot up. "Wait, you're serious?", he exclaimed in disbelief. "You want me to come with you?"

"Of course, silly", she replied with a smile. "You're not gonna let me have all fun, are you?"

The blond snorted. "Of course not.", he said coolly. "Besides it's been awhile since I went on a hike."

"If I recall, you never liked hiking."

He sighed exaggeratedly. "Just… let me have this one, Lex.", he pouted, trying to sound as hurt as possible.

Lexi giggled, shaking her head. Just like old times.

"Sure."

* * *

 **So now we have this split between our characters, because Jak is fixated on finding a way on getting straight to Praxis, meanwhile Lexi hopes that finding this tomb and magical stone will get her some answers on what's been going on with her lately. Yay, conflict!**

 **I decided to have the story behind the Precursor Stone come up sooner than it did in canon, because what struck me as odd is that Jak is told to find the tomb and doesn't find out why it's a big deal until much later. Next chapter, Lexi and Kai go on a small road trip and Jak and Daxter get another job to do.**

 **Think that's all I have to say here, see you guys next time!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Thanks for everyone who has stuck with this story and hope you're all having an awesome summer!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't Jak & Daxter, its characters, plot/story or any part of the script used in this fanfic. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Lexi and Kai took everything they thought they would need when heading into Haven Forest: information on what they were looking for, their guns for any danger that may come their way and a duffel bag to put the artifacts in. Using a zoomer that Kai had acquired earlier, they headed out of the Water Slums and towards another one of the city's gates that located at the back of a field on the far side of the bazaar.

Just on the other side of the gate was another Warp Gate Lexi was still as perplexed as she was when she first tried it out. Once they were both through, they pulled out their guns, ready for their journey into the forest. "How are you able to go through those things without batting an eye?", she asked Kai.

He shrugged. "I sometimes travel outside the city for Krew. You kind of have to get used to it."

She rolled her eyes. "So what're we looking for first?", Lexi asked, keeping a watchful eye out for danger.

Kai reached into the bag and pulled out a slip of paper. "Okay, so the first one is the Shard. It's a shiny glowing blue and should give off this humming sound." He stuffed it back into the back. "Honestly, it should be pretty easy to find."

As the two of them cautiously made their way through the forest, it didn't take long for Metal Heads to appear and attack them. Lexi was swift and quick to kick and then shoot them dead. However, Kai aimed at the Metal Heads with more precision, taking care in who he shot first and not taking his focus off of them.

Once that wave of enemies was eliminated, Lexi looked to her friend whilst gathering the fallen creature's skull gems. The statue had promised her and Jak help to control their new powers in exchange for the gems. They were given assistance and there would be less Metal Heads in the world; a win-win for everyone. "I'm impressed. Never would've thought you of all people would handle a gun so easily."

Kai shrugged. "I don't know, but it doesn't seem that hard. It's just… see something, aim at it, and then shoot." Lexi stared at him incredulously. "At least… that's just how I go about it. But I guess that's how it is when you're self-taught."

"Yeah, but I was only shown the basics and just went from there.", Lexi replied. "And you're pretty good, it's hard to believe that you're self-taught."

"You flatter me.", Kai smirked.

The duo continued on through their endeavour and they barely had time to breathe between each Metal Head attack. They jumped their way across a number of platforms and had to strategically cross a pool filled with Dark Eco by creating a path out of platforms that were laid out for them. As they were crossing, Lexi kept a tentative eye on the poll and Kai figured that it was understandable. Everyone knew how destructive that sort of Eco was but if Lexi was already pumped full of the substance, he couldn't begin to fathom how she would feel about seeing it all up close. He couldn't help but notice Lexi visibly relax once the pool was out of sight and asked her if she was okay. Lexi had to get her breathing in check before she could give a weak smile and say that she was fine.

The awkward atmosphere was soon replaced with intensity when soon after they came face to face with a Metal Head that was almost three times their height. It charged at them without hesitation and the two of them quickly jumped out of the way in opposite directions. Rolling to her feet, Lexi began firing rapidly at the creature, only agitating it further. The monster roared and fixated its focus on her and immediately swung its enormous foot at her, sending her flying to the side.

The breath was knocked out of Lexi's lungs and her gun fell from her now loose grip. She held a hand to her side but the pressure only seemed to aggravate where she was hit further. The pain seemed to slow her down as her strength was momentarily depleting and struggled to get her gun back into her grip. Just as the beast was about to strike again, she heard several gunshots in front of her and the Metal Head growling angrily.

"Hey! Over here!", she heard Kai cry out. Lexi took a moment to thank the Precursors for her friend and managed to crawl the rest of the way to her gun and regain her bearings as the Metal Head turned its attention to Kai and began stomping towards him. Kai, however, didn't waver and stood firm in his place, shooting few, but well-aimed shots. As the creature was distracted, Lexi used the opportunity to continue shooting. The creature cried out again and was now struggling to get a hit at either of them now that they were now shooting at it from different directions. With it weakened, Lexi and Kai were now able to go all out on their shootings and within seconds, the creature fell dead to the ground, its skull gem rolling away from use corpse and Lexi triumphantly picked it up and shoved it into the bag.

Kai sprinted over to her and began looking her over for any fatal injuries. She rolled her shirt slightly up to look at her side. A large bruise was already forming but didn't hurt as much as before when she touched it. Neither wanted to admit but Lexi could've been close to dying hadn't Kai intervened as she was sure that she may not have been able to regain her energy in time to push herself back into the fight. She let out an exasperated sigh and bumped Kai on the shoulder. "Thanks for that. I thought I was done for."

Kai returned the gesture. "I guess we're even then."

"This artifact better be worth the trouble.", Lexi muttered, running a hand over her rapidly beating heart.

Kai rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm sure that it will." Lexi rose an eyebrow. "I mean, come on! This is a Precursor artifact we're scavenging for here! Do you know how big of a deal it is to see these things up close?"

Lexi chuckled. "Nerd."

"I heard that."

"Wasn't trying to be discrete.", she said smugly and Kai playfully shoved her in response.

They continued on into the temple that Kai was sure should have the Shard. And he was right, as a sapphire glow was illuminating the entire room and a low hum filled their ears as they got closer. Floating in the centre was the blue crystal that they were looking for. They both entered and approached the artifact, staring at it in awe.

Lexi looked up to Kai. "Want to do the honours?"

He looked up to her in disbelief. "Wait, you're serious?"

She gestured to the Shard. "You're the Precursor expert, you deserve the first find."

Kai looked down in embarrassment, silently thanking her. His hand hovered over the artifact for a long moment before reluctantly picking it up from where it was hovering over the ground. It thrummed in his grip for several seconds as Kai stared at the Shard. He carefully placed it into the bag, making sure that he didn't damage it in any way. "One down, two to go.", he said triumphantly.

* * *

With the first artifact out of the way, Kai and Lexi began their trek for the next one, the Gear. As they exited the temple, they could see another set of floating platforms and carefully jumped down them. Lexi figured that the journey would be quite easy… until another one of those large Metal Heads crashed through a rock wall. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me.", Lexi muttered.

Now that they had already faced one of these types of Metal Heads, Lexi and Kai were more prepared this time around. The two of them took their positions on either side of the Metal Head and continued shooting at it without hesitation. After several shots and kicks, the creature was taken down more easily. Kai sighed. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that."

"I guess that's the reaction the Metal Heads love.", Lexi replied sarcastically. She looked to the ground and saw a large and intricate-looking button. With rough press, the walls exploded, debris flying out, with a couple of platforms popping out. Once they used them to climb up the cliff, it wasn't long until they came across another swarm of Metal Heads, which they took out with ease. When they rounded a corner, they came face to face with another cliff with an infinite amount of boulders rolling down it.

"Okay!", Lexi yelled out over the sound of the rocks bounding down. "How're we gonna do this?"

Kai looked at the avalanche in shock and took a moment to collect their thoughts. "Um, okay… we need to stay away from the larger boulders and just dodge them when they come around."

"'Avoid the boulders'. Grade A advice, buddy.", Lexi said, giving a thumbs up.

"To be fair, what sort of advice were you expecting?"

Lexi sighed. "Let's just see how we do here."

The two of them reluctantly stepped forward to attempt to climb up the cliff. A rock rolled to their feet and they jumped out of the way. _I regret all of this_., Lexi thought. Deciding to just go for it, Lexi bolted towards the cliff and began climbing up the ledges, narrowly dodging the boulders that fell from above her. She backed up against yeh side to avoid them and turned to see Kai following her, taking the exact same path as she did, albeit not avoiding the rocks as fluidly as she did. After a large boulder passed them, the two of them continued their trek up the cliff but had to pause here and there to catch their breath or avoid a wave of boulders coming their way. Several minutes later, they arrived at the top of the cliff, coming out of it with few scrapes and bruises.

After the trek up the cliff they came across another set of platforms and soon enough, they found a golden and very detailed machine with various parts that made the machine work flawlessly. At the bottom of the machine was a triangular-shaped gear. The one that they were looking for next. The two of them looked at gear before Lexi quickly snagged the gear from the machine.

She turned to Kai, who looked absolutely horrified. "Why would you do that?!"

"How else are we supposed to get it?" Kai continued to stare at her in disbelief. "Besides, no harm done."

As if she jinxed the situation, the machine instantly stopped working and fell to pieces now that the tiny gear was gone. "You were saying?", Kai said.

Lexi stared at the site for a moment before taking Kai by the shoulder and turned him around. "Just walk away. Act like it never happened."

* * *

Walking away from the broken machine, they went on to find the final artifact, the Lens. Going down the next set of platforms, a swarm of Metal Heads were already waiting for them but were able to take them out with a few shots. Later on, they came across a Metal Head with a deflective shield. It took more effort to take it out since there were moments where their bullets would have no effect, but once the shield was down and the Metal Head resume shooting blasts at them, they were able to take it out.

When they were about to reach the temple, another larger Metal Head charged at them. Lexi growled, not even letting Kai help her kill it. "I want these kinds of Metal Heads to be the first to become extinct."

Kai strolled over and playfully shook her shoulder. "Remember Lex, that's the reaction the Metal Heads love." She glared at him and then elbowed him in the ribs. He cried out. "Man, you pack a bigger punch than the Metal Heads!"

"Then we'll have no problems taking them out.", she replied as she pressed the button to activate the platforms and the two climbed up. "Ugh, what's with all the climbing!"

Kai, who was clearly out of breath, laughed nervously. "It's not so bad. We get to see nature at its finest."

Lexi rolled her eyes. "I've seen so much of nature that I'd prefer a prison cell to this."

The two of them paused after her quip. "Too soon?", she asked, catching the shocked look on Kai's face.

He look down, avoiding eye contact. "Too soon."

Once they reached the top, they found another Metal Head with a shield. Whilst the creature was shooting at Lexi, Kai used the opportunity to shoot it from the side as it was distracted. They were about to continue when they took a step and the ground below them exploded leaving the platforms for them to jump across. They were getting close to the Lens when a group of smaller Metal Heads ambushed them but were able to kill them with one shot each.

They turned to enter the temple and saw the Lens near the ceiling, reflecting the light above it. Lexi squinted at the light. "So how exactly are we gonna reach that?"

Kai cocked his head to the side in thought. "According to the information, it should come right do-"

He was cut off as Lexi stomped on the circular platform they were standing on which caused it to start slowly spinning around. Kai stumbled slightly as he was caught off guard but Lexi wasn't fazed since she was concentrating on gently catching the Lens that was lowering towards them. "Aaaand that's three!", she yelled triumphantly as she shoved it into the bag.

"Yeah!", Kai exclaimed. "You know, we actually make a pretty great team. For some reason, this reminds of the old times."

He was expecting a response when he heard a dull thump and turned to see Lexi unconscious on the ground.

* * *

 **See you guys next time!**


End file.
